The two telescopes are named after the astronomer Walter Baade and the philanthropist Landon T. Clay.

[2][3] 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.

[4] 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.

Technicians at Steward Observatory were able to cut the mirror to 33.5 inches (0.85 m) in diameter, thereby removing the broken edge.