Article Posted on : - Apr 27, 2010

A new architectural concept drawing of ESO's planned European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) shows the telescope at work, with its dome open and its record-setting 42-metre primary mirror pointed to the sky. Swinburne Astronomy Productions/ESO photo

NEW DELHI (BNS): European Extremely Large Telescope will be constructed on Cerro Armazones in the central part of Chile’s Atacama Desert.

ESO plans to build a European extremely large optical/infrared telescope (E-ELT) with a primary mirror 42 metres in diameter, a statement issued by ESO said.

The E-ELT will be “the world’s biggest eye on the sky” — the only such telescope in the world. The construction cost is estimated to be close to a billion Euros.

A BBC report said the next-generation observatory will be so powerful it will be able to image directly rocky planets beyond our Solar System.

It should also be able to provide major insights into the nature of black holes, galaxy formation, the mysterious "dark matter" that pervades the Universe, and the even more mysterious "dark energy" which appears to be pushing the cosmos apart at an accelerating rate, it said.

The final go-ahead for construction is expected at the end of 2010, with the start of operations planned for 2018.

The telescope has an innovative five-mirror design that includes advanced adaptive optics to correct for the turbulent atmosphere, giving exceptional image quality.

The main mirror will consist of almost 1000 hexagonal segments, each 1.4 metres across gathering 15 times more light than the largest optical telescopes operating today.

The E-ELT will thus be able to gather 15 times more light than the largest optical telescopes operating today. It will also provide images 15 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope.

European Southern Observatory (ESO) Council, the governing body of the Organisation, Monday, selected Cerro Armazones based on an extensive comparative meteorological investigation, which lasted several years.

Cerro Armazones is some 130 kilometres south of the town of Antofagasta and about 20 kilometres from Cerro Paranal, home of ESO’s Very Large Telescope.