Astronomers shared updates on the construction progress of the Extremely Large Telescope.
Construction is underway on the world's largest telescope atop Cerro Armazones in the Chilean Atacama Desert.
2025-02-21 10:01:07https://naked-science.ru/community/1032404
In an update detailing the construction progress of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), specialists from the European Southern Observatory shared images of the dome that will protect the telescope.
According to a statement from the astronomers accompanying the new publication, the dome is so large that it will take scientists about half an hour to reach its summit via numerous stairs and corridors.
The massive dome is designed to protect the 39-meter primary mirror of the ELT, which consists of 798 individual hexagonal segments covering a total area of 978 square meters. With this, the ELT will capture direct images of exoplanets.
The new telescope is expected to see first light by 2028.