Underneath the University of Arizona’s football stadium are the beginnings of the Giant Magellan Telescope, set to be the largest optical telescope in the world.The Richard F. Caris Mirror Laboratory is the only place equipped to manufacture gigantic 27-foot tall mirrors, the kind needed to build the heart of the Magellan.
source/image: Great Big Story
Each of the seven mirrors that will comprise the telescope weigh in at 17-tons and will produce images with 10 times the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope, giving scientists an unprecedented look into the fringes of our universe.
The telescope is expected to have the resolving power 10 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope, and will be the largest optical observatory in the world, at the time of its first light.
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As of December 2015, four mirrors have been cast and the construction of the summit facility has begun.A total of seven primary mirrors are planned, but it will begin operation with four.
