GIANT MAGELLAN TELESCOPE - GMTO CORPORATIONGraphic representation of the GMT, which will begin to be built in 2015GIANT MAGELLAN TELESCOPE - GMTO CORPORATION
Researchers from the state of São Paulo will participate in the operations of one of the world’s most important telescopes as a result of FAPESP having joined the international consortium of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), on which construction will start in Chile in 2015. The GMT will begin to function in 2021 and will expand by about 30 times the volume of data accessible to telescopes that are already in operation. FAPESP will invest $40 million in the project, the equivalent of about 4% of its estimated cost. This investment will ensure that 4% of GMT operating time will be available for projects being conducted by researchers from São Paulo. In addition, FAPESP will have a seat on the board of the consortium, now composed of 10 partners, including institutions from the United States, South Korea, and Australia. Hernan Chaimovich, member of the Area Panel on Special Programs and coordinator of FAPESP’s Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (RIDC), told Agência FAPESP that negotiations are being held with Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation to share in the financing and expand participation by institutions from all over Brazil. The GMT will make it possible to study the formation of stars and galaxies that occurred shortly after the Big Bang, and to measure the mass of black holes and map their immediate environment. The GMT may also be able to detect exoplanets similar to Earth.
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