astronomy

Magellan Telescopes

Magellan Telescopes is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Magellan Telescopes rather than just read about it. In short: The Magellan Telescopes are a pair of 6.5-metre-diameter (21 ft) optical telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The two telescopes are named after the astronomer Walter Baade and the philanthropist Landon T.

Key takeaways

Magellan Telescopes belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Magellan Telescopes to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Magellan Telescopes from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Magellan Telescopes are a pair of 6.5-metre-diameter (21 ft) optical telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The two telescopes are named after the astronomer Walter Baade and the philanthropist Landon T. Clay. First light for the telescopes was on September 15, 2000 for the Baade, and September 7, 2002 for the Clay. A consortium consisting of the Carnegie Institution for Science, University of Arizona, Harvard University, the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology built and operate the twin telescopes. The telescopes were named after the sixteenth-century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is an extremely large telescope under construction, as part of the US Extremely Large Telescope Program.

Current instruments on the Magellan Telescopes Baade telescope:

Inamori Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph (IMACS) FourStar Folded port InfraRed Echellette (FIRE) Magellan Echellete (MagE) Clay telescope:

Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle (MIKE) spectrograph Low-Dispersion Survey Spectrograph-3 (LDSS-3) Megacam imager MagAO-X Michigan/Magellan Fiber System (M2FS)

Magellan Planet Search Program

This program is a survey of stars searching for planets using the MIKE echelle spectrograph mounted on the 6.5 m Magellan II (Clay) telescope.

MagAO Adaptive Optics System In 2013, Clay (Magellan II) was equipped with an adaptive secondary mirror called MagAO which allowed it to take the sharpest visible-light images to date, capable of resolving objects 0.02 arcseconds across—equivalent to a dime (1.8 cm) seen from 100 miles (160 km) away. MagAO was originally intended for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT), but the secondary mirror was damaged before it could be installed. The project leader Laird Close and his team were able to repair and repurpose the broken mirror for use on Magellan II. As built for the LBT, the original MagAO mirror had a diameter of 36 inches (0.91 m). However, the edge of the mirror was broken. Technicians at Steward Observatory were able to cut the mirror to 33.5 inches (0.85 m) in diameter, thereby removing the broken edge.

Gallery

See also List of largest optical reflecting telescopes Giant Magellan Telescope Gran Telescopio Canarias

References

External links Magellan Project homepage – Carnegie Institution for Science Archived 2010-10-08 at the Wayback Machine Las Campanas Observatory Magellan Telescopes homepage

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Magellan Telescopes

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Magellan Telescopes claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Magellan Telescopes before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Magellan Telescopes ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Magellan Telescopes

In research: Magellan Telescopes appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Magellan Telescopes in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Magellan Telescopes is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures in Antofagasta Region, Infrared telescopes, Reflecting telescopes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Magellan Telescopes outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Magellan Telescopes in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Magellan Telescopes means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Magellan Telescopes out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Magellan Telescopes in simple terms?

Why does Magellan Telescopes matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Magellan Telescopes?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Magellan Telescopes.