Another revolutionary mirror telescope that will eclipse all existing optical telescopes with its performance is the Giant Magellan Telescope..
Once completed, the GMT will consist of seven primary mirrors, each with a diameter of 84 meters, all mounted on a common mount.
The result is a mirror with an effective diameter of 24.5 meters. For comparison: today's largest optical telescopes, the Keck I and the Keck II at the Mauma Kea Observatory in Hawaii, have a mirror diameter of around 10 meters. The Giant Magellan Telescope will achieve with this diameter a resolution ten times higher than that of the Hubble Telescope.
Each of the seven mirrors undergoes an extremely complex manufacturing process. To illustrate how smooth the surfaces of the mirrors should be, you have to imagine a mirror with a diameter of 3000 kilometers, on which the highest unevenness on its surface is just 1 cm high.
In order to compensate for disturbing turbulences in the atmosphere, the GMT is equipped with a so-called adaptive optic. This is a technique that makes it possible to adjust the shape of the mirrors minimally up to 1000 times per second, so that a clear image is created. Therefore a kind of artificial star in the sky is created with laser to measure the distortions and to counteract them.
The Giant Magellan Telescope will collect more light and achieve a higher resolution than any other telescope in front of it. It will also be able to observe exoplanets directly from the ground.
Like the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, the Giant Magellan Telescope will be built in Chile and is part of the Las Campanas Observatory and should be operational by the end of 2024 / beginning of 2025.
