6 Observatories Benefiting from Synergy with the Giant Magellan Telescope
Working synergistically with some of today’s most powerful observatories on Earth and in space, the Giant Magellan Telescope will bring unique capabilities to the exploration of our Universe.
The next generation of giant ground-based telescopes — a new class known as extremely large telescopes (ELTs) — have the power to revolutionize astronomy with innovations that bring both new capabilities and complement existing facilities around the world. With ELTs, we will fill gaps in our view of the Universe that we didn’t even know we had and open a new era of discovery.
For example, the Kepler space telescope, NASA’s first mission to detect Earth-size planets in the habitable zones of their stars, revealed that our galaxy contains billions of hidden exoplanets by observing transits. But that was just the first step. Kepler fed 1000’s of new exoplanet candidates to the 8-meter generation of ground-based telescopes for both confirmation and in-depth study. ELTs will reach even fainter (small and cool) planets in the future, reaching larger volumes of space and even Earth-like planets for the first time.
The Giant Magellan Telescope offers unique performance capabilities among the ELTs as it will deliver the highest-performing combination of image quality, field of view, and light sensitivity ever achieved. This is made possible by its two-mirror design, ground-layer adaptive optics, and the ability to fully utilize its field of view with first-generation instruments.
With this wide range of unique capabilities, from wide field spectroscopy to direct exoplanet imaging, the Giant Magellan Telescope will bring unprecedented opportunities to leverage the discoveries of contemporary facilities. Facilities including the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), Cosmic Explorer, Gemini Observatory, IceCube Neutrino Observatory, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO and LIGO II), Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and many more.
“The Giant Magellan Telescope will work in synergy with observatories where Korean astronomers are actively involved, such as ALMA, Rubin Observatory, and NASA’s SPHEREx Telescope. When commissioned, the Korean astronomical community will be able to observe the Universe much deeper than with the current largest accessible telescopes, the twin 8.1-meter telescopes, Gemini North and Gemini South. The Giant Magellan Telescope will conduct deep spectroscopic observations on selected targets gathered from Rubin’s survey of the cosmos as well as in-depth follow-up studies of exoplanet atmospheres detected by SPHEREx and precise observations of SPHEREx deep fields at the North and South Ecliptic Poles. With spatial resolution comparable to ALMA, it will enable multi-wavelength observations covering a broad spectral range from optical to radio.” — Byeong-Gon Park, Director, Center for Large Telescopes, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
To maximize the scientific impact of existing federal investments, here are few telescopes we complement:
James Webb Space Telescope
1 million miles away from Earth, JWST is studying every phase in the history of our Universe. The Giant Magellan Telescope will brilliantly complement the 6.5-meter JWST, similar to the partnership between the 2.5-meter Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and current 8-meter class telescopes, such as the Gemini and Keck telescopes.
JWST is exploring the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth. Because JWST works in the infrared spectrum, the Giant Magellan Telescope’s unique high spectral resolution at optical wavelengths and extreme imaging resolution will be an ideal complement to JWST for studying cool, Earth-like exoplanets and detection of biosignatures to confirm biological origins. This is particularly important given that the visible spectrum and broad wavelength coverage are critical to detecting “false positives” from molecular combinations that can only be produced by organic life.
Another mystery at the heart of the JWST mission is understanding the formation of stars in the early Universe. After the Big Bang, the only chemical elements were hydrogen and trace amounts of helium, beryllium, and boron. Today, we understand how stars can form from gas clouds, but that formation involves cooling enabled by heavier chemical elements. How did the first stars form when gas can’t cool to collapse? JWST’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCAM), a primary imager covering the infrared wavelength range 0.6-5 microns, can see back to the formation of those first objects. With 4-16x the spatial resolution than can be achieved with JWST, the Giant Magellan Telescope’s spectrographs will provide crucial spectroscopy to measure the motion and chemistry of galaxies connecting to these earliest epochs, helping us unravel the astrophysical mystery of how stars and galaxies were able to form in the early Universe.
Vera C. Rubin Observatory
The Giant Magellan Telescope is being built in Chile, an ideal location for astronomical observations. This is part of the reason why the southern sky is home to over 70% of the world’s leading observatories. The 8.4-meter Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located less than 80 miles from the Giant Magellan Telescope summit, will soon begin operations. Using the largest camera ever built, Rubin will scan the sky nightly for 10 years to create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of our Universe at optical wavelengths — the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).
With revolutionary sensitivity, cadence, and survey area, Rubin will revolutionize a wide range of areas of astronomy from areas related to exotic transients, to galaxy formation and evolution revealed by the lowest surface-brightness, dark-matter dominated galaxies, and everything in between — but only if we can study the objects it finds in greater detail. The Giant Magellan Telescope’s efficient, multi-object spectroscopy offers the highest resolution, widest wavelength coverage, and widest field of view for us to get the full science potential from these surveys in our greater understanding of the physics, chemistry, dynamics, and evolution of the objects discovered.
“Rubin Observatory is a discovery engine. It will observe the entire night sky over Chile (including the Giant Magellan Telescope) every few nights, identifying objects that have moved or changed brightness. Because Rubin’s Simonyi Survey Telescope is also a large telescope, some of these variable or transient objects will be faint. The Giant Magellan Telescope will be ideal for following up faint, and in many cases rare, objects with its large aperture suite of capable instruments.” — Robert Blum, Director for Operations of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory
“When Rubin Observatory is commissioned later this year, the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) aims to provide data connection to the telescope from Chile and the Brazilian astronomical community will participate in their science collaborations. FAPESP is ensuring that Brazilian astronomers remain at the forefront of research for decades to come in its support of Rubin Observatory and the Giant Magellan Telescope.” — Vitor de Souza, Professor in Astrophysics, São Paulo Research Foundation
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
ALMA, one of the world’s largest radio telescopes, studies light from the coldest and oldest objects in our Universe. Since it is also located in Chile, the Giant Magellan Telescope will have ideal coverage of the same objects. Stars and planets are best probed by optical and near-infrared observations, while long wavelengths have unique capabilities for studying the initial conditions of their forming disks. When exploring the birth of stars in the era of extremely large telescopes, ALMA will have mapped regions of star formation in detail, providing information on gas temperature, density, velocity, chemical abundances, and magnetic fields. When combined with our observations of stellar and planetary properties, we’ll see new opportunities in studying planet formation.
“Some of the most exciting science in astronomy needs both radio and optical telescopes to work together. One example is extremely bright, short-lived Fast Radio Bursts, which were discovered with radio telescopes. But we’ve needed the detailed insights from optical observations to tell us where they come from, and what might be causing these enormous bursts of energy in distant galaxies.” — Sarah Pearce, Director, SKA-Low Telescope
Along with the birth of stars, in investigating planet formation, ALMA and the Giant Magellan Telescope will provide complementary images and spectroscopy of circumstellar disks at comparable spatial resolution. Spectroscopy from our near-infrared spectrograph, GMTNIRS, will be sensitive to warm gas species, while ALMA will be sensitive to colder gas of the same species.
Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory
LIGO detects gravitational waves. As part of a global network of detectors that includes facilities in Italy, Japan, and India, LIGO is one of the largest projects the National Science Foundation (NSF) has ever funded, and with monumental scientific payoffs. In addition to detecting many mergers of black holes, in 2017, LIGO detected the merger of two neutron stars, an event which was then detected electromagnetically, creating a revolutionary opportunity to see the formation of a black hole and revealing that these events are the genesis of many chemical elements for which we previously only had theories on. The 6.5-meter twin Magellan Telescopes in Chile captured the key observations of that rapidly fading event. Soon, the Giant Magellan Telescope will be able to capture many more and even fainter events.
“The breakthroughs that emerged from the singular multi-messenger discovery of the double neutron-star merger in 2017 have proven the powerful synergies between gravitational and electromagnetic-wave astronomy. However, such neutron-star mergers are so rare that most of them are happening too far away from the Earth for current EM telescopes to detect once discovered in gravitational waves. With the Giant Magellan Telescope available in parallel with the world-wide network of gravitational-wave detectors, like LIGO, we will be able to unlock the full potential of multi-messenger astronomy and explore the cosmic population of neutron-star final deaths.” — Vicky Kalogera, Daniel I. Linzer Distinguished University Professor, Northwestern University, Director of CIERA, Director of the SkAI Institute
With spectrographs providing high throughput, high spectral resolution, and high spatial resolution across the optical to mid-infrared spectrum, the Giant Magellan Telescope will play a leading role in the follow up of gravitational wave sources. To reach the full potential of gravitational astronomy — such as studying the chemical element factories that these spectacular events create — observations of electromagnetic counterparts are indispensable. In the extremely large telescope era, the positions of gravitational wave events in the sky will be determined with an accuracy of 10–100 square degrees. Precise localization of gravitational wave sources, not to mention the spectra themselves, will still be possible with their electromagnetic radiation. The Giant Magellan Telescope will be key to identifying and studying these powerful, exotic events in visible and infrared light.
European Extremely Large Telescope
While the Giant Magellan Telescope maximizes synergies with the current US multi-billion-dollar system of ground-based astronomical facilities, it’s also highly complementary with the European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). Residing in the Atacama Desert in Chile, the 39-meter E-ELT will be the world’s largest optical/infrared telescope upon its projected completion near the end of the decade. Two ELTs in the same hemisphere makes for science at its best in that researchers globally will be able to compare and confirm their findings.
Along with comparing and confirming findings, these telescopes offer different capabilities for us to map a more detailed picture of our Universe. The Giant Magellan Telescope’s ultraviolet sensitivity will fill in gaps for Southern Hemisphere observations as it extends further into the UV (320 nanometers compared to 400-450 nanometers for E-ELT) with high spectral resolution. The Giant Magellan Telescope offers a wider field and bluer wavelength coverage, and it enables extreme adaptive optics for exoplanet observations. While E-ELT offers more mid-infrared instruments and a larger diameter for higher spatial resolution at any given wavelength.
US Extremely Large Telescope Program
Similar to the twin 8.1-meter telescopes, Gemini North and Gemini South, situated in Hawaii and Chile, respectively, the bi-hemispheric US Extremely Large Telescope Program (US-ELTP) will provide advantages to US astronomers when the Giant Magellan Telescope in the Southern Hemisphere and the Thirty Meter Telescope in the Northern Hemisphere come online. Upon completion, scientists anywhere in the US will be able to create and lead projects that take advantage of the program’s full-sky coverage and diverse instrumental capabilities.
The US-ELTP offers significant synergies with many new telescopes being constructed for the next generation, such as Rubin Observatory and E-ELT, as well as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST) and Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). Both pioneered by NASA, these space telescopes will uncover transformational astrophysics discoveries. In addition to RST and HWO, LIGO II, a new and improved version of LIGO, is being designed to further heighten its sensitivity to gravitational waves. For decades to come, the US-ELTP will coordinate scientific efforts with telescopes at various wavelengths.
