Giant Magellan Telescope Project Status and Relationship with the NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee February 8, 2007 Patrick McCarthy - Carnegie Observatories

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 2 Project Overview The GMT is a 24m telescope built on the heritage of the Magellan and MMT 6.5m telescopes. The primary mirror is composed of seven 8.4m diameter borosilicate segments. Resolving power: 24.5m equivalent Collecting area: 22.0m equivalent Configuration: f/8 aplanatic Gregorian Baseline Site: Las Campanas, Chile

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 3 Project Overview The GMT Partnership Carnegie Institution of Washington Australian National University Harvard University MIT Smithsonian Institution Texas A&M University U. of Arizona U. of Michigan U. of Texas at Austin

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 4 Governance and Standing Committees Governance: GMT Board Members from each partner institution plus AURA technical manager and observers from NOAO, AURA and NSF Scientific direction: Science Working Group/Scientific Advisory Committee Members from partner institutions plus community representative TBD Technical guidance: Project Scientists Working Group Member from each partner, consulting engineers Additional working groups in: Adaptive Optics, Instrumentation, Site Testing, etc.

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 5 Recent & Upcoming Milestones MOU between original partnersJuly 2003 Texas & Texas A&M join projectAugust 2004 First Primary Mirror Segment CastJuly 2005 Conceptual Design Review February 2006 Australian National University joins project May 2006 Instrumentation review I - survey spectrographsOctober 2006 Instrumentation review II - AO and AO instrumentsDecember 2006 Instrumentation review III - high dispersion spectrographs March 2007 Selection of First-Generation Instruments Summer 2007

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 6 Generating GMT1 on the LOG GMT1 Completion: 2008

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 7 Site Layout on Campanas Peak Enclosure Control Building (Below) Facility Building Auxiliary Building Equipment Building Prevailing winds

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 8 Wavelength (  m) 5  1 hr Sensitivity (  Jy) Discovery Space m AB - - Adaptive Optics Seeing Limited Stellar Astroph. 1 < Z < 5 Galaxies IGM First light Old Exoplanets Black Holes Young Exoplanets Young Stars Dk Energy

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 9 Instruments GMTIFS on the upper platform GMACS Optical Layout GMTNIRS NIRMOS & GMACS

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 10 Relations with NSF and AURA Broad Goals Broad Goals Maximize private support for ground-based astronomy Develop public-private partnership concept more fully at all levels Craft public policy to encourage widely based private participation Prime the pump with technology development funding Integrate US user community into ELT design and operations Expand community participation in SACs & other committees Integrate more closely with GSMT SWG (Kudritzki committee) Work with NSF/NOAO to improve outreach and GSMT support in community

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 11 Relations with NSF and AURA Realities MRE funding for construction unlikely before ~2013 Private construction capital contingent on successful design/development phase Operation costs are a serious concern for private & state institutions and private donors Significant up-front NSF support along with a model for participation after ~2012 is critical to moving the project forward

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 12 Relations with NSF and AURA Near-Term Goals Near-Term Goals Enhance support for technology development through the GMST program Increase the annual flow of support to GMT & TMT Lengthen the duration of the program to reflect the expected delayed onset of federal support for construction Explore alternative models for federal support of ELTs Weigh the benefits of commitments to operations vs. construction Better define the role of the National Observatory in the process

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 13 Relations with NSF and AURA Longer-Term Goals Longer-Term Goals Develop a model for operations in the ELT era Better understand scientific drivers for various operating modes Understand the interaction between public/privates and the NVO Develop a role for the National Observatory in operations & archiving

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 14 Relations with NSF and AURA Ways to move forward Continue & expand development funding under AURA management support design efforts for both projects prototype critical subsystems identify critical technology with common applications Work with NSF and AURA to develop operation plans explore models of private/public partnership for operations work with NOAO to develop operations model and costs understand how GSMT(s) will work within “The System” Develop a long-range plan to creatively support both programs avoid unnecessary “down-select” leverage private support to enhance “The System” explore construction support outside of MRE work with international partners to explore other governmental support

AAAC Meeting, February , Washington, DC 15 Relations with NSF and AURA GMT View The GMT partners desire a closer relationship with the NSF. We are happy to work with NSF and AURA to understand how this should be structured. Enhanced federal support for the design effort will speed the project, enable further private support and engage the broader community. We welcome more participation from the broader community through our scientific committees and other outreach activities. GMT is now an international project and may become more so. This may open new avenues for support of construction and operations

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