Building the Giant Magellan Telescope, the world’s largest telescope

Underneath the University of Arizona’s football stadium are the beginnings of the Giant Magellan Telescope, set to be the largest optical telescope in the world. The Richard F. Caris Mirror Laboratory is the only place equipped to manufacture gigantic 27-foot tall mirrors, the kind needed to build the heart of the Magellan. Each of the seven mirrors that will comprise the telescope weigh in at 17-tons and will produce images with 10 times the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope, giving scientists an unprecedented look into the fringes of our universe.

Get a closer look at how this incredible piece of technology is slowly but surely coming together in the Great Big Story video above. The telescope is currently slated for completion in 2025, and will be located in the Las Campanas Observatory in the southern Atacama Desert of Chile, “one of the highest and driest locations on earth.”

Plus, check out this quiet glass loading time lapse from the video above:

Then watch more telescope videos, including this video from 2013 on Giant Magellan Telescope and its perfect mirror.

Thanks, Ben.