Giant Telescopes
&
OIR Astronomy in the 2020’s
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GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
Winter Solstice 2017
Nicholas B Suntzeff
Texas A&M University
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University 2
I would like to thank Dr. Pat McCarthy and
the GMT project for use of these slides. I
have added my own slides which reflect my
opinion and may not reflect that of the GMT
Board.
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University 3
GMT Founder Institutions
New partners are welcome
Korea
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Texas A&M
Arizona
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Ground Breaking in Chile
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
The Giant Magellan Telescope
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19th and Early 20th Century Observatories
Harvard
CarnegieUT Austin
Australia
Chicago
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
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Telescopes Double in Size Every 40 Years
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
The telescope I built in
high school
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The Challenge
Magellan 6.5m Telescopes
Giant Magellan Telescope
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Optics
50,000,000 wavelengths of light!
Polished to an accuracy of 1/20 a wave
1 part in a billion!
82 Feet
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Center Segment Casting – Sept 2015
Glass from Ohara of Japan
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Mirror #4
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Mirror #4
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Mirror #1 Mirror #2
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Coring the mountain
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Single Friction Pendulum
standard in the industry
Seismic Base Isolation
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Modeling the Airflow Over the Site
Boeing computing division (St. Louis)
Used to optimize enclosure venting and base structure
Enclosure final design underwayProcurement to be launched in mid/late 2017
Open bidding – potential vendors in North America, Europe, Asia, Brazil, Chile
Summary Schedule(no schedule margin included)
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Upcoming Schedule Milestones
• Telescope Design/Build Contract Award Aug 2017
• Enclosure Bid Packages Released Sep 2017
• Start of Summit Concrete work Late 2017
• Enclosure Closed to Weather Mid 2020
• Delivery of telescope to site Early 2021
• Installation of First Primary Mirrors Mid 2022
• Engineering First-Light with Subset of Mirrors 2023
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Science Goals
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
Top-Level Science Areas
• Extra-solar planets
• Stellar Populations and Chemistry
• Galaxy Building
• Black Hole Growth
• Cosmological Physics
• First-Light & Reionization
Giant Magellan TelescopeScientific
Promise and Opportunities
Giant Magellan TelescopeScientific
Promise and Opportunities
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Science Goals
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
What’s New?
• Earth-like planets, visible AO…
• 2000+ Exoplanets, TESS in 2018
• Stars with [Fe/H] < -7
• Black holes with M > 1010Msun
• FRBs and other new transients
• JWST 2 years away
• LSST to start in 2020+
• …...
Giant Magellan TelescopeScientific
Promise and Opportunities
Giant Magellan TelescopeScientific
Promise and Opportunities
Potentially Habitable Worlds
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GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
Low Mass Exoplanet Detections
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Radial Velocity Detections
- Rely on reflex motion of star
- Current precision limits < 1m/s
- Typical precision ~ 3-4 m/s
- Requires high stability
- Requires carefully planned
observing program
GMT Goals
- 1 – 2 ME planets
- In habitable zone
- G-M type stars
- 10 cm/s precision
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
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Exoplanet Science
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
Planets around M stars!
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Proxima Cen b – Strong signal!
Simulated GMT Imaging of Exoplanets
GMT will image giant planets to ≈150 pc and Earth analogs at
< 10pc
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Current TechnologyGMT
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How will we Search for Life
on Extrasolar Planets ?
Image: Tanja Bosak Lab (MIT)
Oxygen gasCyanobacteria
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How will we Search for Life
on Extrasolar Planets ?
Image: Tanja Bosak Lab (MIT)
We will be able to
detect O2, O3, CH4, …in
an exoplanet
atmosphere with the
GMT
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How will we Search for Life
on Extrasolar Planets ?
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How will we Search for Life
on Extrasolar Planets ?
Exoplanet Atmosphere Detections
Detection of Potassium in the Hot Jupiter in XO-2b (Sing et al. 2010)
> 3 detection
Detection of Sodium in the Hot Jupiters in HD209458b (Charbonneau et al. 2002) and HD198733b (Redfield et al. 2008)
Transmission spectroscopy has proven successful in about
a dozen planets, with the detection of e.g. H2O, CH4 , CO, Na I and K I
in their atmospheres.
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
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NASA
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Imaging the Galactic Center Black Hole
GMT AAS OPEN HOUSE - JAN 5, 2017
Current TechnologyGMT
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Simulated AO Images
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
Globular Cluster around Cen A 3.8Mpc 3pc core radius H-band
0.5
Gemini 8m GMT 25m
GMT Image Simulations
Current Telescopes
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Hubble Space Telescope
James Webb GMT w/Adaptive Optics
GMT with Adaptive Optics
Extreme Metal Poor Stars
Detection of heavy neutron capture elements in metal poor stars
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
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GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University 41
“Ultra Faint” Dwarf Galaxies
Current Limit
4 mirror GMT limit
GMT Limit
Fornax Sculptor Leo I
Segue 1 CVn I
Sextans
ComBer Leo IV
Key Question: Are ultra-low mass galaxies “closed box” systems or
are they cleared of gas and metals during bursts or star formation?
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Probing Cosmic Dawn
Galaxy seen when the
Universe was 400
Million Years old
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Focal Stations
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
Instrument Mount Locations
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Folded Ports (4)
Direct Gregorian Ports
(4)
Gravity Invariant (1)
Instrument Platform
Auxiliary Ports (2)
(not shown)
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
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GMT FOCAL PLANE – 2 meters in diameter!
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
Natural Seeing Optical (350-950 nm) Spectrographs
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2.4
m
2.3
m
4.5m
5.2
m
GMACSDarren DePoy (Texas A&M)
Multi-object, dual channel
R = 1,000 – 6,000
7.5’ diameter FoV spectroscopy / imager
• Stellar evolution & abundances
• ISM & sIGM abundances
• Galaxy chemical evolution, Lyα systems
G-CLEFAndrew Szentgyorgyi (Harvard/SAO)
Stabilized, fiber-fed, dual channel echelle
R = 19,000, 35,000, 108,000
<50 cm/s per observation
• Exoplanets PRV (<10 cm/s) & chemistry
• Stellar abundances
• Dark matter distribution in dwarf galaxies
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
Facility Fiber Feed to Spectrographs
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MANIFESTJon Lawrence (AAO) / Matthew Colless (ANU)
Robotic fiber-feeds – 2-3 min config time
Single fiber, IFUs, Image slicer
Extendable to thousands of fibers
Feeds multiple instruments (G-CLEF, GMACS, future IR MOS)
• Extends/Adds MOS capability over 20’ FoV
• Enables very high A-Ω survey science (RV, stellar abundances)
• Allows simultaneous observing with multiple instrument (“parallels”)
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
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AO-Fed Spectrographs
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GMTNIRSDan Jaffe (Univ of Texas Austin)
Near-diffraction limited JHKLM echelle
Full 5 band coverage simultaneously
R = 50,000 (JHK) – 75,000 (LM)
• Exoplanet structure and atmospheres
• Star and planet formation
• Composition of stars & nebulae
• Galaxy chemical evolution history
GMTIFSRob Sharp (ANU)
Diffraction-limited yJHK IFU / imager (20.4”)
R = 5,000, 10,000
Spaxels: 6, 12, 25, 50 mas
• Galaxy chemical enrichment history
• First galaxy structure and assembly
• Black hole masses
• IGM at high redshift
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
ELT
8m
4m
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Comparing the ELTs
Increasing collecting area & angular resolution
2 reflections
f/8
1.0mm/arcsec
1.2m
3 reflections
f/15
2.2mm/arcsec
2.6m
5 reflections
f/17.7
3.6mm/arcsec
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The following is my opinion, and I represent no group – only my experience of 40 years in astronomy and physics.
Now let me speak frankly
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University
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We must admit we are building the smallest giant telescope. While this is a slight disadvantage, we have one HUGE advantage. If we keep the project on track, we will be on the sky 3-5 years before any of the other two telescopes. Let’s grab that opportunity!
We must take a cue from our physicist friends and agree upon one major science goal and devote the first ~3 years to this project. The grandest project to work on, in fact, the grandest discovery that can me made in the history of science, is to find life on other planets.
Let’s take the challenge of doing one experiment – something like the LHC and the discovery of the Higgs – and unite our project to do this one experiment – find life elsewhere in the Universe. We will be the only telescope on the sky. If there is life to be found, we can be the ones that will do it, and be the ones who will have made the greatest discovery science.
GMT Overview | Sept 23, 2016 | Ohio University