GMTO CorporationArtistic representation of the apparatus under construction in ChileGMTO Corporation
Currently under construction in Chile, the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), of which FAPESP has been a founding partner since 2014, has gained a new partner: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The American institution made a private donation of an undisclosed amount to the GMT, thereby becoming the 16th member of the international consortium managing the project. With an estimated cost of US$2.6 billion, the 25.4-meter super telescope’s light-gathering area will be 10 times larger and its spatial resolution four times greater than those of the James Webb Space Telescope, currently the most advanced instrument for cosmic observations. The GMT will be capable of observing extremely old celestial objects, including the first generation of stars and galaxies, as well as exoplanets. Construction is roughly 40% complete, with US$1 billion invested to date. It is set to become operational within the next decade. Since joining the consortium, FAPESP has allocated US$50 million to the project. Researchers from the state of São Paulo will have access to 4% of the instrument’s observation time.
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