australia’s path to a giant telescope matthew colless mnrf symposium 7 june 2003
TRANSCRIPT
Australia’s Path to a Giant Telescope
Matthew CollessMNRF Symposium
7 June 2003
International ELT projects
Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT)• GMT (20m) = US private consortium• Carnegie, Harvard, SAO, Arizona, MIT, Michigan, Texas
Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT)• TMT (30m) = CELT (US priv.) + GSMT (US pub.) + VLOT (Can.)• Caltech, U.California, NOAO, AURA, ACURA
European Large Telescope (OWL)• OWL (100m) = OverWhelmingly Large telescope• ESO, Opticon (most European countries)
Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT)
Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT)
The European Large Telescope (OWL)
ELT science scope = most of astronomy Dark matter and dark energy
First light and reionization
Galaxy assembly at high-redshift
Growth of black holes
Chemical evolution of stars & galaxies
Origin of stellar masses
Uniqueness of our solar system
Formation of habitable worlds
SERENDIPITY!
Mapping science goals to telescope design
Stellar Populations in Galaxies
Characterizing Exoplanets
The Birth of Planetary Systems
The Birth of Galaxies:
The Birth of Large
Scale Structure
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Essential capabilities for ELT science
ELT technical capabilities science gains
Technology developments needed
Australia’s ELT Roadmap
The Australian ELT Working Group has produced an ELT Roadmap with three main strands…1 Smart buyers…
Which ELT? Science, technology, share, access, etc.
2 Technology leaders…Developing Australian technology for ELTs
3 Antarctic advantage…The best telescope on earth should be at the best site on earth
The Roadmap is available on the web at…http://www.aao.gov.au/instrum/ELT/
GMT - a focus for Australian ELT effort
Australia’s goal is 10-20% of an ELT Open to participating in any of the ELT projects Keeping in close contact with all three However, to provide a real focus for Australian ELT effort,
the ELT WG is opening collaboration with the GMT project This is not yet partnership (Australia has ‘observer’ status)
Ten reasons Australia should join GMT
1. World-leading science (mostly common to other ELTs)2. Balance between technical risk and science opportunity3. Low cost for large share (‘second to none’)4. Early entry leads to more influence and greater benefits5. Technology development leading to knowledge transfer6. Education & training - links to leading US institutions7. Flexible funding model - some choice in how, when, what8. Southern location offers synergy with AU facilities & SKA9. Interest in 2nd-generation Antarctic ELT10. Genuine partnership based on mutual interests & regard
GMT cost estimates
The estimated costs for the 20m GMT are…
• Design ~ US$50M
• Construction ~ US$450M
• Operation ~ US$20M/year
For comparison…
• TMT is estimated to be ~50% higher (US$750M)
• OWL is estimated to cost €1200M to construct
Nominal Australian spending profile for 20% share of GMT
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2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Year
A$M
Design
Construction
Operations
GMT schedule first light ~2018
Initial Australian collaborations with GMT
Currently: joint involvement by ANU/AAO/UNSW staff in concept design of visible multi-object spectrograph for GMT
Proposed for 2006 (funding sought via LIEF):• Further design study of VISMOS (OCIW/AAO/ANU)• Study of mirror phasing techniques (Arizona/ANU)• Wind flow studies of telescope & enclosure (commercial
engineering consultants - Sinclair Knight Merz)
Australian contribution valued at ~AU$600k• Seek to credit this contribution to future GMT partner
share, with approval of GMT Council
The MNRF contribution
MNRF is funding the Australian ELT effort by providing funding for……the Australian ELT Project Scientist:
Prof. Warrick Couch (UNSW, 0.3 FTE)…a Deputy Project Scientist:
Dr Charles Jenkins (RSAA, 0.2 FTE)…travel support for these roles
The funding amounts to $140k p.a. for period 2005-2007