Cerro Armazones: In the remote deserts of northern Chile, workers are making significant progress in building the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), set to become one of the most advanced astronomical observatories ever constructed. Dozens of boxes containing mirrors are being carefully placed along the rugged terrain as part of this ambitious project, which is already about 60% complete.
The ELT, a 1.45 billion euro ($1.51 billion) project backed by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is designed to search for signs of life on exoplanets—planets outside our solar system—and to peer back in time to investigate the universe’s earliest stars and galaxies. The telescope’s first scientific observations are anticipated by the end of 2028.
“It’s going to impact practically all areas of astronomy. We’re going to be able to see how the first galaxies were formed at the beginning of the universe, the first stars,” said Itziar de Gregorio, the ESO’s representative in Chile.
“We’re going to see with a lot of detail, and characterize stars that are in other galaxies – and, above all, really advance in our understanding of other worlds that are around other stars. In particular, we’re going to be studying the atmospheres of worlds around other stars to see if there are signs of life,” de Gregorio added.
The telescope’s primary mirror will be one of the largest in the world, measuring about 39.3 meters (130 feet) across and made up of 798 individual segments. Once completed, it will be assembled into one giant mirror, about 1-1/2 times the size of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. This remarkable mirror will be positioned at Armazones Hill, located 3,050 meters (10,000 feet) above sea level, in the Atacama Desert—a region renowned for its ideal astronomical conditions. The site is about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) north of Chile’s capital, Santiago.
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The ELT will be the largest optical-infrared observatory in the world for decades to come, revolutionizing our ability to explore the cosmos.
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“The mirrors are ready and awaiting installation,” said Tobias Muller, the assembly, integration, and verification manager for the telescope. “This is a major challenge. The telescope is a highly complex system, not just made up of one mirror, but multiple mirrors of different complexity,” Muller added.
