Sailing into the Final Frontier: The Giant Magellan Telescope

In the centuries-old quest to refine human understanding of the universe in which we live, the tools we use to throw light at the dim frontiers of knowledge are evolving rapidly. Australian astronomers, engineers, and technologists have just embarked an international partnership to design and build the most powerful extension to the human eye yet known – the Giant Magellan Telescope. Scheduled for completion in 2016, this telescope will be able to detect cosmic objects 75 times fainter than those seen with the Hubble Space Telescope, and produce images up to 10 times crisper. Using techniques currently being prototyped, this 'giant eye on the sky' will become the platform for unprecedented discovery and insight into the formation and evolution of planetary systems other than our own and the dark forces that shape the very fabric of the cosmos. This lecture was sponsored by the ANU College of Science as part of National Science Week 2006.