David A. Thomas presents: "The Giant Magellan Telescope" & General Membership Meeting

"When we use telescopes to look at objects in the heavens that are very far away, we are looking back in time, for we are seeing them as they were in the past, not as they are today." - David A. Thomas

Thomas's presentation, "The Giant Magellan Telescope," will provide insight into the workings of telescopes, their history and their ability to tell us the history of our Universe. He will also explain why, when it comes to telescopes in astronomical research, size matters.  

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is one of a next generation of Extremely Large ground-based Telescopes (ELT’s) currently under development to advance our scientific understanding of our Universe.  Funded by a consortium of Universities, it is managed by the non-profit Giant Magellan Telescope Organization headquartered in Pasadena and will eventually be constructed in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Thomas will also provide an overview of the U.S. ELT program with an emphasis on the features of the GMT and the science goals we hope to accomplish with it. Thomas is one of five Glendora residents currently working on the GMT program.

David A. Thomas is a Senior Optical Engineer on the GMT program and a resident of Glendora since 1990.  He holds a PhD in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona and has 30 years of experience, mostly with space-borne telescope systems for NASA and National Security Space applications.

General Membership Meeting Task: Nominating Committee Announced