The project started in 2015 is finally coming to a successful end. Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is one of the prestigious and most anticipated projects of all time. The world’s largest telescope is being assembled in the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. This telescope is expected to be the most revolutionary work of science.
The GMT encompasses a unique design that gives a few points of interest. It may be a fragmented reflect telescope that utilizes seven of today’s biggest stiff monolith mirrors as sections. Today marks the day when the 6th reflect has been at last put.
Sixth Mirror Finally Built
On March 5, 2021, the second last mirror of GMT was cast. This sixth monolith mirror is 8.4-meter (27.5 feet) reflect — approximately two stories tall when standing on edge.
The mirror began manufacturing at the University of Arizona’s Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab and took about four years to come together. These mirrors will permit cosmologists to see more distant into the universe with more detail than any other optical telescope before.
James Fanson, Project Manager of the Giant Magellan Telescope talked about the project’s purpose saying,
“The bigger the mirror, the more profound we will see into the universe and the more detail we will watch. The Giant Magellan Telescope’s unique essential mirror plan comprises seven of the world’s biggest mirrors. Casting the 6th mirror may be a major step toward completion.”
Further added saying, “Once operational, the Giant Magellan Telescope will create pictures ten times more honed than the Hubble Space Telescope. The revelations these mirrors will make will change our understanding of the universe.”
When Will GMT Accredit?
It is being expected that by the end of 2021, the seventh mirror will be in the process to be build. After this, the telescope will undergo several processes before commissioning light on it. Calculating the time taken by the previous mirrors and their technicalities. It is safer to assume that it be ready to work by the end of 2023.
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