Exciting news uranology fans , as work on a immense new telescope has now begun , with completion place for around 2024 .
The $ 1 billion Giant Magellan Telescope ( GMT ) is being build in Chile richly in the Atacama Desert in a part call the Las Campanas Observatory , a democratic localization for scope where the thin skies afford wonderful views of the cosmos . It ’ll be situated at an altitude of about 2,500 meters ( 8,200 feet ) .
The huge telescope , led by the US but also involve Australia , Brazil , South Korea , and Chile , will span 25 meter ( 82 animal foot ) in diameter , with seven freestanding mirrors comprising its elemental mirror . Each is 8.4 meters ( 27.6 feet ) across , they are the largest single astronomic mirrors that have ever been built . Together , they ’ll have view about 10 time gravid than Hubble .
Now , on August 14 , a hydraulic drill began drill into the solid rock terrain of the land site to commemorate the boundaries of the telescope . More than 4,000 cubic meters ( 140,000 cubic feet ) of rock will be removed to build its foundations .
“ [ W]ith the beginning of the construction of the permanent edifice on the land site , the GMT shew tangible signs of progress towards its completion , ” project manager Dr James Fanson said in a , uh , rather understatedstatement .
Atop the foundations will be a elephantine rotating observatory that arrive at about 65 meters ( 215 feet ) in high spirits and 56 meters ( 185 feet ) wide . The intact affair will be able to move to channelise the mirror at unlike regions of the sky . The mirrors themselves arealready being build .
“ The Giant Magellan Telescope will be one member of the next course of gargantuan ground - establish telescopes that promises to revolutionize our view and understanding of the universe , ” the team writes on theirwebsite .
“ This unprecedented light gathering ability and resolution will help with many other absorbing questions in twenty-first century astronomy . ”
These questions include whether we ’re alone in the world , with the GMT have the capability to image other major planet beyond our Solar System in more contingent than ever before . It will also hope to peer at some of the universe ’s first galaxy , and tell us more about ever - elusive saturnine subject .
And to make this possible the GMT will also make use ofadaptive optic , something we ’ve discourse before . By constantly adjusting its lowly mirrors ( above the main mirror ) , it will be able to account for the distortion in lightness triggered by the atmosphere at unlike altitude .
It is set to be a rather incredible scope upon its pass completion . Now we ’ve just set out a short six twelvemonth to await .
