Astronomers have begun to blast 3 million cubic feet of rock
from a mountaintop in the Chilean Andes to make room for what
will be the world's largest telescope when completed near the
end of the decade. The telescope will be located at the Carnegie
Institution's Las Campanas Observatory - one of the world's
premier astronomical sites, known for its pristine conditions
and clear, dark skies. Over the next few months, more than 70
controlled blasts will break up the rock while leaving a solid
bedrock foundation for the telescope and its precision
scientific instruments. The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) will
have unprecedented capabilities, allowing it to peer back to the
dawn of time, witnessing the birth of the first stars, galaxies
and black holes, while also exploring planetary systems similar
to our own around nearby stars in the Milky Way. The GMT will
help astronomers probe the nature of dark matter and dark energy
- mysterious forms of matter and energy that allow galaxies to
form while the expansion