Founders
Giant Magellan Telescope
Arizona State University
Faculty and students at the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) will expand their interdisciplinary work in areas such as early stars and galaxies and open the door to the characterization of the first astronomical objects in the universe with the Giant Magellan Telescope. The SESE is positioned to contribute to the telescope’s mission and benefit from the data it will collect.
Visit siteAstronomy Australia Limited
As a non-profit company, Astronomy Australia Limited (AAL) manages programs that provide astronomers with access to national astronomy infrastructure. Working with Australian National University and Macquarie University, AAL representatives contribute to the development of multiple instruments for the Giant Magellan Telescope. Namely, work out of Macquarie University on the design of MANIFEST. This multi-object fiber positioning system will enhance two other spectrographs by increasing the field-of-view, the spectral resolution, and the number of objects that can be observed simultaneously.
Visit siteAustralian National University
In collaboration with Astronomy Australia Limited, a team of researchers out of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) is designing one of the Giant Magellan Telescope’s first generation instruments, the Integral Field Spectrograph. This instrument will have the ability to take detailed images of the sky and obtain spectra from across a continuous region of the field of view. Additionally, RSAA is designing the laser tomography adaptive optics subsystem, which will correct for the blurring caused by Earth’s atmosphere.
Visit siteCarnegie Institution for Science
The Giant Magellan Telescope is being built at Carnegie Institution for Science’s Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Building on over a century’s history of telescope construction at the institution, the telescope will be based on technology developed for the highly successful 6.5-meter Magellan telescopes residing at Las Campanas Observatory. The institution’s commitments have supported the design, construction, and commissioning of the telescope. In conjunction with the institution’s vocational support, Carnegie Observatories is leading the development of the Commissioning Camera to evaluate the telescope’s natural seeing and ground-layer adaptive optics performance.
Visit siteThe São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is an independent public foundation on a mission to foster research within the state. FAPESP invested in the Giant Magellan Telescope for Brazilian astronomers to remain at the forefront of research for decades to come, ensuring astronomers from all states of Brazil access to the telescope. Leading Brazil’s support for the Giant Magellan Telescope are institutions including the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences, the University of Paraíba Valley, and the Mauá Institute of Technology and Polytechnic School at the University of São Paulo. These institutions have contributed to designing and developing numerous instruments, from providing systems engineering for MANIFEST to adaptive optics development for G-CLEF.
Visit siteHarvard University
Harvard University, established in 1636, is the oldest higher education institution in the United States. It hosts around 21,000 undergraduates and graduate students, and 2,400 faculty, and is known for its commitment to educating society’s citizens and citizen-leaders. The Harvard College Observatory (HCO), founded in 1839, is a research institution of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, and provides facilities and substantial other support for teaching activities of the Department of Astronomy. In 1973, HCO and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) combined their resources and research facilities to create the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA). Advancing our understanding of the universe through astronomy research, these two institutions act as a powerhouse organization contributing to the success of the Giant Magellan Telescope. Able to measure the slightest wobble of a star created by the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet, the Large Earth Finder spectrograph was developed by CfA. Additional contributions include the multi-object astronomical and cosmological spectrograph and the acquisition, guiding, and wavefront-sensing system.
Visit siteKorea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Providing infrastructure for Korean astronomers carrying out research for the next generation, the Center for Large Telescopes (CfLAT) promotes high-resolution spectroscopy in cooperation with the Korean Astronomical community. The CfLAT has contributed to the instrument software development of multiple instruments for the Giant Magellan Telescope, including its optical spectrograph and near-IR spectrograph. The institute’s established research development and fellowship program will serve Korean astronomers once the Giant Magellan Telescope reaches first light.
Visit siteSmithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution, comprising nine research centers and many museums and galleries, was founded in 1846. Established for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge,” the Smithsonian is today the world’s largest such institution. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) was founded in 1890 and is a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution. The long relationship between SAO and the Harvard College Observatory began when the SAO moved its headquarters to Cambridge in 1955. In 1973, they combined their resources and research facilities to create the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA). Advancing our understanding of the universe through astronomy research, these two institutions act as a powerhouse organization contributing to the success of the Giant Magellan Telescope. Able to measure the slightest wobble of a star created by the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet, the Large Earth Finder spectrograph was developed by CfA. Additional contributions include the multi-object astronomical and cosmological spectrograph and the acquisition, guiding and wavefront-sensing system.
Visit siteTexas A&M University
Texas A&M University (TAMU) astronomers are ensured to play key roles in breakthrough discoveries using the Giant Magellan Telescope. Through a history of design study and collaboration with members of the consortium, TAMU astronomers and engineers teamed up to build a wide field, multi-object, moderate-resolution, optical spectrograph for the telescope. The multi-object astronomical and cosmological spectrograph will be capable of spectroscopically observing the faintest possible targets, which are currently known only from imaging observations.
Visit siteThe University of Texas at Austin
Advancing Texas science, The University of Texas at Austin will be one of a handful of American universities to provide faculty members and students access to the next-generation telescope for groundbreaking research. In collaboration with the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and Kyung Hee University, The University of Texas at Austin is designing a high-resolution near-infrared spectrograph for the Giant Magellan Telescope. Selected as a first-generation instrument, it will have the largest simultaneous spectral grasp of any high-resolution spectrograph in the world in a single exposure.
Visit siteUniversity of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a leader in the space sciences. Their Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab, part of Steward Observatory, produces the largest mirrors in the world, including the 8.4m diameter mirror segments that will be part of the Giant Magellan Telescope. Their large, light-weight, fast focal length (deeply curved) mirrors make the Giant Magellan Telescope possible. Beyond the developing and fabricating the primary mirror segments, astronomers of Arizona’s Center for Astronomical Adaptive Optics (CAAO) are designing an extreme adaptive optics coronagraphic imager for the telescope. CAAO is also contributing to the work to simulate and design how the primary and secondary mirror phasing systems will be implemented for Giant Magellan Telescope.
Visit siteUniversity of Chicago
Posturing a lead position in groundbreaking research on the nature of our universe, the University of Chicago sets research priorities for the Giant Magellan Telescope. Faculty and students from the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics will focus on extragalactic study in researching dark energy and dark matter, as well as the search for planets around stars other than the sun. In advance of this research, The University of Chicago is planning the development of the telescope in collaboration with the consortium.
Visit siteThe Weizmann Institute of Science
The Weizmann Institute of Science is a distinguished multidisciplinary research institution from Israel. Their Nella and Leon Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics promotes research in nearly all aspects of astronomy, expanding the Giant Magellan Telescope’s research capabilities by capitalizing on Weizmann Institute’s expertise and outstanding team of astrophysicists. Scientists and engineers at the institute are partners in developing one of the first instruments for the telescope, a spectrograph designed to study Earth-like planets around solar-type stars. Based on the institute’s leadership in astrophysics, particle physics, and space mission design, the Weizmann Institute of Science, through its flagship initiative, aims to provide new levels of insight into the central questions of fundamental physics while contributing to wide-ranging practical applications.
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