Announcement

ESOcast 84: The New E-ELT Design Unveiled

25 May 2016

As ESO signs a contract to begin building the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), this ESOcast takes a close look at this mammoth instrument and outlines some of the scientific advances we can expect from it. The ESOcast features amazing computer generated images of the E-ELT, showing in remarkable detail what the monster telescope will look like on top of Cerro Armazones in the Chilean Andes.

On 25 May 2016, ESO signed a contract with the ACe engineering consortium of Italy, to build the dome and main telescope structure of the E-ELT. With a main mirror 39 metres across, and a protective dome almost 80 metres high, this will be one of the biggest astronomical projects ever undertaken. The light-gathering power of the E-ELT will exceed that of all the professional telescopes currently operating, and its adaptive optics systems will permit it to produce images far sharper than any other telescope. These features will take it into a new era of observational astronomy, an era in which we will answer some of the most pressing questions about the Universe, and in which the E-ELT will undoubtedly surprise us with undreamed-of new discoveries.

You can subscribe to the ESOcasts in iTunes, receive future episodes on YouTube or follow us on Vimeo.

Many other ESOcast episodes are also available.

Find out how to view and contribute subtitles to the ESOcast in multiple languages.