Mounted image 216: VIP ELT mounted image

Perched atop Cerro Armazones in the Chilean Atacama Desert, ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is taking shape. This spectacular photograph, taken on 29 August 2023 from the nearby Cerro Paranal, shows the Sun, sporting two sunspots on its surface, as it rises behind the steel scaffolding of the ELT’s giant protective dome. When finished, the dome hosting the world’s biggest eye on the sky will weigh some 6100 tonnes, tower 80 metres high and be capable of rotating a full 360 degrees.