Science Instrumentation Progress at the Giant Magellan Telescope

We describe the development status of the first-generation science instruments for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). The first-generation suite includes two infrared and two visible light spectrographs that together will deliver from wideband imaging to R similar to 200,000 spectroscopy at wavelengths from 0.3 to 5 mu m. All four instruments are designed for use with diffraction limited or ground-layer adaptive optics modes. G-CLEF, a visible light echelle designed for broad scientific use and for precision radial velocity measurements, is in fabrication. The other three (GMACS, a wide field multi-object spectrograph; GMTNIRS, a near- to thermal-infrared echelle spectrograph utilizing silicon immersion gratings; and GMTIFS, a near-infrared imager and integral field spectrograph) are in Preliminary Design. The first-generation suite also includes a robotic fiber-feed system called MANIFEST, which enables spectroscopy over the 20 arcmin field of view of the telescope with custom fibers for G-CLEF, GMACS, and GMTNIRS. An additional facility instrument, GMagAO-X, is being developed to provide high-contrast imaging at visible and near-infrared wavelengths and is in Preliminary Design. We also discuss the visible and infrared cameras (called ComCam and AOTC, respectively) that will be used for alignment, verification, and commissioning of the active and adaptive optics modes of the telescope and enable early science activities.

Automated summary

This article describes the development status of the first-generation science instruments for the Giant Magellan Telescope. The first-generation suite includes infrared and visible light spectrographs, as well as a robotic fiber-feed system. Additional instruments are being developed for high-contrast imaging. These instruments will enable a wide range of scientific research and observations.