Giant Magellan Telescope
When finished, the Giant Magellan Telescope will peer at the cosmos from a perch in Chile’s Atacama Desert, a famously good location for astronomical observations. The 12-story-tall optical-infrared telescope will use seven primary mirrors (each over 27 feet across) to focus light from deep space; according to the telescope’s website, it is four times more powerful than the Webb Telescope and 10 times more powerful than Hubble. It will make use of various instruments to study exoplanets and potential biosignatures in their atmospheres, as well as galactic evolution, gravitational waves, and objects that are easy to see in near-infrared, like planetary systems. According to Smithsonian, the telescope is expected to be operational by 2029.
