Hard rock excavation has officially begun for the Giant Magellan Telescope, a member of the next class of giant ground-based telescopes that promises to revolutionize our view and understanding of the universe.
The 80-foot-diameter Giant Magellan Telescope, of which the University of Chicago is a founding member, will produce images that are 10 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope in the infrared region of the spectrum. Astronomers will use these images to study planets around other stars and to look back to the time when the first galaxies formed.
The telescope, expected to have a final weight of about 1,600 metric tons, will comprise seven mirrors supported by a steel telescope structure seated on a concrete pier. It will be housed inside a rotating enclosure that will measure 22 stories tall and 184 feet wide.
Work began on the telescope’s massive concrete pier and the foundations for its enclosure on its site at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Using a combination of hydraulic drilling and hammering, the excavation work, undertaken by the company Minería y Montajes Conpax, is expected to take about five months to complete. Excavation is a key step towards the construction of the telescope, which is expected to see first light as early as 2024.