Moreover, due to the sparsity of population centers and other favorable geographical conditions, the night sky in most of the surrounding Atacama Desert region is not only free from atmospheric pollution, but in addition it is probably one of the places least affected by light pollution, making the area one of the best spots on Earth for long-term astronomical observation. The site has been chosen as the new instrument's location because of its outstanding astronomical seeing and clear weather throughout most of the year. The location of the telescope is Las Campanas Observatory, which is also the site of the Magellan Telescopes, some 115 km (71 mi) north-northeast of La Serena, Chile and 180 km (112 mi) south of Copiapó, Chile, at an altitude of 2,516 m (8,255 ft). The US$1 billion project is US-led in partnership with Australia, Brazil, and South Korea, with Chile as the host country. Ī total of seven primary mirrors are planned, but it will begin operation with four.
As of May 2021, six mirrors have been cast and the construction of the summit facility has begun. The telescope is expected to have a resolving power 10 times that of the Hubble Space Telescope and four times that of the James Webb Space Telescope, although it will be unable to image in the same infrared frequencies available to telescopes in space. It will consist of seven 8.4 m (27.6 ft) diameter primary segments, that will observe optical and near infrared (320–25000 nm ) light, with the resolving power of a 24.5 m (80.4 ft) primary mirror and collecting area equivalent to a 22.0 m (72.2 ft) one, which is about 368 square meters. The Giant Magellan Telescope ( GMT) is a ground-based extremely large telescope under construction, as part of the US Extremely Large Telescope Program ( US-ELTP), as of 2022.
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