The first Harlan Fiske Stone of the super expectant Telescope has been laid in Chile , which means the construction of the dome and telescope has now officially begin . The highly Large Telescope ( ELT ) , as the name intimate , will be the biggest optical telescope in the world , with the main mirror 39 cadence ( 128 ft ) in diam .
The ELT is the latest projection by the European Southern Observatory ( ESO ) , a 16 - commonwealth pool of European and South - American country . The scope is being progress near ESO ’s Paranal Observatory in Northern Chile , and a ceremony took position there last week to lionize the beginning of grammatical construction .
" With the symbolic start of this building employment , we are building more than a telescope here : it is one of the greatest expressions of scientific and technological capabilities and of the sinful potential of external cooperation , " Chilean President Michelle Bacheletsaid during the observance .
With a rotating dome 82 metre ( 269 fundament ) across , the ELT has already had quite an impact on a specialized sector of astronomy : telescope engineering . The ELT is a wonderful challenge and everything about it is a record breaker . Thesecondary mirrorhas just been be sick and at 4.2 cadence ( 13.8 feet ) in diameter , it is the largest secondary mirror ever and also the largest convex mirror ever create .
The secondary mirror is larger than the chief mirror of most telescopes . It ’s also both strongly curving and aspherical to debar aberrations in the visible radiation the telescope will observe .
" This is a milepost in ESO ’s story , the ELT will be the most powerful and challenging scope of its kind , " Patrick Roche , president of the ESO Council , added . " We have turn over this point thanks to the efforts of many people in the Member States of ESO , in Chile and elsewhere , over many eld . I give thanks them all and am delighted to see many of them here today , celebrating on this occasion . "
The scientific goals of the ELT are as ambitious as its sizing . ESO hopes that the telescope will discover planets as humble as Earth , as well as directly image the largest exoplanets . The ELT will take accurate mensuration of the farthermost objects in the universe , which will give up astronomer to learn how they form and better understand the universe as a whole .
" The ELT will bring on discoveries that we just can not imagine today , and it will surely inspire numerous mass around the human beings to think about science , technology and our place in the Universe , " Tim de Zeeuw , director full general of ESO , put forward . " This will bring great benefit to the ESO Member States , to Chile , and to the rest of the world . "
The scope will see first light in 2024 , but it ’s already being hailed as the beginning of a Modern era in astronomy .
