The instrument development and selection process for the Giant Magellan Telescope

Abstract

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is a 25.4-m optical/infrared telescope constructed from seven 8.4-m primary mirror segments. The collecting area is equivalent to a 21.6-m filled aperture. The instrument development program was formalized about two years ago with the initiation of 14-month conceptual design studies for six candidate instruments. These studies were completed at the end of 2011 with a design review for each. In addition, a feasibility study was performed for a fiber-feed facility that will direct the light from targets distributed across GMT's full 20 arcmin field of view simultaneously to three spectrographs. We briefly describe the features and science goals for these instruments, and the process used to select those instruments that will be funded for fabrication first. Detailed reports for most of these instruments are presented separately at this meeting.