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An incredible view This image was taken at 3060m above sea level (10,000ft), on the mountain peak of Cerro Armazones in Chile. The high number of star trails is testament to the dark, clear site. This is one of the reasons why this mountain top will host the upcoming European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).

#E-Elt #night sky #star trails #chile #cerro armazones #mountain #dark sky #clear #night #photography #long exposure #European Extremely Large Telescope #science #astronomy #the universe #the real universe

A New Record Nears: The World's Largest Telescope Prepares For Completion

“The ELT, by the nature of its size, its power, its weight, and its complexity, could never have been a "build-it-and-you're-done" type of telescope. It needs to be continuously adjusted throughout the night to maintain the optimal mirror shape; it needs to be re-calibrated night-to-night to achieve that perfect set point; it needs to have its mirrors recoated every 18 months to keep that ideal 7.5 nanometer smoothness. But if you do all of that, and you use the ideal techniques and instruments — from pointing-and-tracking to adaptive optics to imaging methodology — the ELT has the capability to outclass every other optical telescope ever built, on Earth or in space. It's going to be an incredible technical achievement when complete, an achievement that requires continuous work to maintain. But the science we'll get from it will be unlike anything else our world has ever seen.”

Throughout history, a number of advances have enabled astronomers to collect superior data about the Universe. Smoother mirrors, adaptive optics, superior instrumentation, and optimized photon collection have all made significant contributions, but at some point, you simply have no choice but to go bigger. Doubling the size of your primary mirror doubles your resolution and quadruples your light-gathering power, so bigger is always better. In the mid-2020s, the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will be completed, surpassing everything. At 39 meters in diameter, the ELT will be made up of 798 hexagonal segments, each one an impressive 1.4 meters from corner-to-corner. The smoothness of the surface will be a ridiculous 7.5 nanometers, with a resolving power capable of scientific advances the world has never seen. But just as impressive is the technical achievement of making, assembling, and configuring the mirrors. To make the largest, most accurate telescope the world has ever seen means creating something with unprecedented precision.

Here’s a look at the inner workings of the world’s (future) largest telescope!

#astronomy #ELT #E-ELT #astrophysics #telescope #telescopes #39-meter #space #universe #optics #mirrors #primary mirror #telescope mirror #segments #segmented

Start of ELT dome and telescope construction

Scientists are a step closer to understanding the inner-workings of the universe following the laying of the first stone, and construction starting on the world's largest optical and infrared telescope.

With a main mirror 39 metres in diameter, the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), is going to be, as its name suggests, enormous. Unlike any other before it, ELT is also designed to be an adaptive telescope and has the ability to correct atmospheric turbulence, taking telescope engineering to another level.

The ELT is set for completion in 2024, and as the visualisation images show, it is going to be ‘out of this world’.

Image credit: ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser.

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