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Frontier of Science Enabled by a Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope Terry Herter Cornell University Abstract The GSMT-SWG (Science Working Group) was chartered by the National Science Foundation to "advise the NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences on a strategy for guiding federal investment in a Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope". This group has worked over the past year getting inputs from experts in science and technology in the community and from four principal private telescope design groups (CELT, Hawaii, LAT, Magellan 20), and has delivered a report to the NSF. This report focuses on (1) the forefront astrophysical problems likely to emerge over the next decade, (2) the science potential enabled by next generation telescopes, (3) design options that can achieve that potential, and (4) technologies that must be advanced or developed in order to realize viable telescopes at acceptable cost. Some highlights of this report will be presented. |