The Giant Magellan Telescope Organization (GMTO) is an international consortium managing the development of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), an extremely large ground-based telescope under construction in Chile. As a non-profit organization, GMTO oversees the design, construction, and operation of the GMT, which will have a primary mirror diameter of 25.4 meters and is expected to be the largest Gregorian telescope ever built. The consortium includes research institutions from the United States, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, the UK and Chile, with major partners like the NSF's NOIRLab, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and various universities. Associated keywords include: extremely large telescope, ground-based astronomy, optical and mid-infrared wavelengths, exoplanet research, and cosmology.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
In 2022 Ingersoll Machine Tools finalized a 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility expansion equipped with the nation’s newest and largest gantry mill to construct the Giant Magellan Telescope mount.
Once assembled, the Giant Magellan Telescope mount will undergo performance testing before being shipped nearly 6,0 m to the Giant Magellan Telescope site in Chile for reassembly.
The Giant Magellan Telescope mount weighs 2,100 metric tons and is designed to support seven of the world’s largest mirrors, adaptive optics, and scientific instruments.
The Giant Magellan Telescope features seven mirrors with an effective diameter of 25.4 meters.
The National Science Board recommended that the National Science Foundation not support both the Thirty Meter Telescope and the Giant Magellan Telescope, citing budget concerns.
The report recommended the NSF invest roughly $800,000,000 in each of the Giant Magellan Telescope and Thirty Meter Telescope in exchange for at least 25% of observing time.
The decadal survey recommended that the NSF invest roughly $800,000,000 in each of the Giant Magellan Telescope and the Thirty Meter Telescope in exchange for at least 25% of observing time.