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The
Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT)
— the product of more
than a century of astronomical research and telescope-building by some
of the world’s leading research institutions—will
open a new window on the universe for the 21st century.
Scheduled for completion around 2016, the GMT will have the resolving
power of a 24.5-meter (80 foot) primary mirror—far
larger than any other telescope ever built. It will answer
many of the questions at the forefront of astrophysics today and will
pose new and unanticipated riddles for future generations of
astronomers.
 View a short movie of the GMT (MPEG, 5MB) and the manufacture of one of its seven mirrors.
The GMT will produce images up to 10
times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope.
In April 2006, the
Australian National University joined the elite group
of research and teaching institutions that are undertaking a detailed
design of the telescope including the Carnegie Institution of
Washington, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
the University of Arizona, the University of Michigan, the Smithsonian
Institution, the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas A&M
University. The ANU contribution to the telescope design and future
instrumentation projects will take place at the
Advanced Instrumentation and
Technology Centre (AITC) atop Mt. Stromlo, in Canberra. Specifically designed with the
technologies for Extemely Large Telescopes in mind, this facility is
now open.
Significant and early participation in an Extremely Large
Telescope project like the GMT is one of the key priorities
identified by the Australian astronomical community in its 2006-2015 Decadal Plan,
New Horizons. An important step toward the realisation
of this pillar of future Australian
strength was taken in November 2006, when then Science Minister Bishop announced
the first tranche of NCRIS funding for the GMT.
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