ELT site testing — Vizcachas / Chile

The above picture shows a view of the desert around Vizcachas, a site located in Chile, not very far from the ESO La Silla Observatory, home to the 3.6-metre telescope and its very successful exoplanet hunter HARPS.

The ELT programme office has studied half a dozen potential sites for the future ELT observatory, which, with its 40-metre-class diameter, will be the world’s biggest eye on the sky. Various aspects need to be considered in the site selection process. Vizcachas was on the ELT Site Selection Advisory Committee’s final short list for the recommended site.