Other members are Carnegie Observatories, Harvard University, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, University of Arizona, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, and Texas A&M University.

What role do ground-based telescopes play in the era of satellite telescopes like the Hubble? For one, said Schechter, “ground-based telescopes can be much bigger, which is important because a telescope’s light-gathering power is proportional to the square of its diameter. The Hubble is only 2.4 meters in diameter, and the next-generation space telescope, which ought to be finished at about the same time as the GMT, will be smaller than the present Magellan telescopes.”

Text for this article comes from an MIT press release.