Giant Magellan Telescope

Protecting the performance of a groundbreaking telescope

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is among the first of a new class of extremely large telescopes whose viewing apertures are more than 20 meters wide. It creates images ten times sharper than those produced by the Hubble Space Telescope. The interactions among a telescope, its enclosure, and its environment are complex and can have unexpected consequences. Understanding these interactions early can ensure the telescope performs optimally without needing costly modifications late in the design process, or after construction. Our state-of-the-art simulations provided results that the GMT’s designers incorporated into their plans to optimize the telescope’s performance.