1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:06,620 Building Big 2 00:00:11,930 --> 00:00:14,840 Astronomy is big science. 3 00:00:17,430 --> 00:00:19,190 It’s a vast Universe out there, 4 00:00:19,190 --> 00:00:23,630 and the exploration of the cosmos requires huge instruments. 5 00:00:28,370 --> 00:00:32,850 This is the 5-metre Hale reflector on Palomar Mountain. 6 00:00:32,850 --> 00:00:37,760 When the European Southern Observatory came into being, fifty years ago, 7 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:41,210 it was the largest telescope in the world. 8 00:00:42,460 --> 00:00:48,020 ESO’s Very Large Telescope at Cerro Paranal is the state of the art now. 9 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,330 As the most powerful observatory in history, 10 00:00:51,330 --> 00:00:55,710 it has revealed the full splendour of the Universe in which we live. 11 00:00:58,350 --> 00:01:02,620 But astronomers have set their sights on even bigger instruments. 12 00:01:02,620 --> 00:01:05,980 And ESO is realising their dreams. 13 00:01:20,330 --> 00:01:22,650 San Pedro de Atacama. 14 00:01:24,020 --> 00:01:27,580 Tucked amidst breathtaking scenery and natural wonders, 15 00:01:27,580 --> 00:01:32,100 this picturesque town is home to indigenous Atacameños 16 00:01:32,100 --> 00:01:34,650 and adventurous backpackers alike. 17 00:01:36,910 --> 00:01:40,710 And ESO astronomers and technicians. 18 00:01:46,020 --> 00:01:50,090 Not far from San Pedro, ESO’s first dream machine is taking shape. 19 00:01:50,090 --> 00:01:55,680 It’s called ALMA – the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. 20 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:02,120 ALMA is a joint project of Europe, North America and East Asia. 21 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,080 It operates like a giant zoom lens. 22 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:10,360 Close together, the 66 antennas provide a wide-angle view. 23 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:16,260 But spread apart, they reveal much finer detail over a smaller area of sky. 24 00:02:18,390 --> 00:02:23,080 At submillimetre wavelengths, ALMA sees the Universe in a different light. 25 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:24,740 But what will it reveal? 26 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:31,760 The birth of the very first galaxies in the Universe, in the wake of the Big Bang. 27 00:02:34,500 --> 00:02:37,130 Cold and dusty clouds of molecular gas 28 00:02:37,130 --> 00:02:41,220 — the stellar nurseries where new suns and planets are born. 29 00:02:44,830 --> 00:02:47,390 And: the chemistry of the cosmos. 30 00:02:51,190 --> 00:02:56,180 ALMA will track down organic molecules — the building blocks of life. 31 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:04,090 Construction of the ALMA antennas is in full swing. 32 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,440 Two giant transporters, called Otto and Lore, 33 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,610 take the completed antennas up to the Chajnantor Plateau. 34 00:03:18,810 --> 00:03:20,710 At 5000 metres above sea level, 35 00:03:20,710 --> 00:03:25,000 the array provides an unprecedented view of the microwave Universe. 36 00:03:32,110 --> 00:03:33,970 While ALMA is nearly completed, 37 00:03:33,970 --> 00:03:38,080 ESO’s next dream machine is still a few years away. 38 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:40,150 See that mountain over there? 39 00:03:40,150 --> 00:03:42,789 That’s Cerro Armazones. 40 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:46,280 Not far from Paranal, 41 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:51,520 it will be home to the largest telescope in the history of mankind. 42 00:03:52,020 --> 00:03:56,700 Meet the European Extremely Large Telescope. 43 00:03:57,130 --> 00:03:59,840 The world’s biggest eye on the sky. 44 00:04:04,620 --> 00:04:07,750 Sporting a mirror almost forty metres across, 45 00:04:07,750 --> 00:04:13,280 the E-ELT simply dwarfs every telescope that preceded it. 46 00:04:15,310 --> 00:04:18,640 Almost eight hundred computer-controlled mirror segments. 47 00:04:20,300 --> 00:04:24,530 Complex optics to provide the sharpest possible images. 48 00:04:27,010 --> 00:04:30,170 A dome as tall as a church steeple. 49 00:04:35,140 --> 00:04:39,550 The E-ELT is an exercise in superlatives. 50 00:04:42,690 --> 00:04:47,190 But the real wonder, or course, is in the Universe out there. 51 00:04:52,740 --> 00:04:57,120 The E-ELT will reveal planets orbiting other stars. 52 00:05:00,780 --> 00:05:04,840 Its spectrographs will sniff the atmospheres of these alien worlds, 53 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:07,140 looking for biosignatures. 54 00:05:10,930 --> 00:05:16,270 Further away, the E-ELT will study individual stars in other galaxies. 55 00:05:16,270 --> 00:05:21,100 It’s like meeting the inhabitants of neighbouring cities for the first time. 56 00:05:22,020 --> 00:05:24,410 Working as a cosmic time machine, 57 00:05:24,410 --> 00:05:28,150 the giant telescope lets us look back billions of years, 58 00:05:28,150 --> 00:05:30,420 to learn how everything began. 59 00:05:34,290 --> 00:05:37,790 And it may solve the riddle of the accelerating Universe 60 00:05:37,790 --> 00:05:42,180 — the mysterious fact that galaxies are pushed away from each other 61 00:05:42,180 --> 00:05:44,660 faster and faster. 62 00:05:56,570 --> 00:06:00,930 Astronomy is big science, and it’s a science of big mysteries. 63 00:06:00,930 --> 00:06:02,520 Is there life beyond Earth? 64 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:04,780 What's the origin of the Universe? 65 00:06:05,910 --> 00:06:11,000 ESO’s new monster telescope will help in our quest to understand. 66 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:15,020 We’re not there yet, but it won’t take long. 67 00:06:15,020 --> 00:06:16,330 So what’s next? 68 00:06:16,330 --> 00:06:17,930 Well, no one knows. 69 00:06:17,930 --> 00:06:20,990 But ESO is ready for the adventure.