We may be incredibly close to unlocking some of the deepest secrets of the universe, and getting some of the most incredible images ever.
Scientists are one step closer to exploring the deepest depths of our universe thanks to a huge development in northern Chile. Workers laid the first stone to mark the start of construction for the Extremely Large Telescope, a telescope with 39 meter main mirror that will be the world’s largest optical and infrared telescope.
ELT will be enormous, as its name implies, and it will be an adaptive telescope with the abitlity to correct for atmospheric turbulence, making its ability to peer deep into space totally unmatched in the world. Authorities held a ceremony to mark the construction milestone at the European Space Observatory’s Paranal residencia in northern Chile, which will be near the giant telescope’s future site on a tall mountain.
The ESO is building the ELT, and is being done in collaboration supported by the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Oxford University scientists will also play a key role in the design and construction of the spectrograph, known as HARMONI, which is meant to simultaneously take thousands of images at a slightly different color.
“‘HARMONI’ will enable scientists to form a more detailed picture of the formation and evolution of objects in the Universe,” reads a statement from the University of Oxford. “Supporting researchers to view everything from the planets in our own solar system and stars in our own and nearby galaxies with unprecedented depth and precision, to the formation and evolution of distant galaxies that have never been observed before.
“A time capsule, created by members of the ESO team and sealed at the event, will serve as a lasting memory of the research and the scale of ambition and commitment behind it. Contents include a copy of a book describing the original scientific aims of the telescope, images of the staff that have and will play a role in its construction and a poster of an ELT visualisation. The cover of the time capsule is engraved with a hexagon made of Zerodur, a one-fifth scale model of one of the ELT’s primary mirror segments.”