Began construction of the largest telescope in the world

In Chile, began construction of the world’s largest telescope EELT with a rotating dome.

The cost of the device – about $ 1 billion. The telescope is five segmented mirrors.

The area of the dome exceeds the size of a football field. The start of the construction given by the President of Chile Michel Bachelet. The purpose of the telescope EELT will be the study of planets outside the Solar system.

For these purposes (placements) is very suitable high-altitude Atacama desert located in Chile. Complete construction is expected in 2024. To build such a giant telescope, will cooperate in multiple countries interested in space exploration.

The largest of the segmented mirrors will get a diameter of 39 meters. In its composition are hexagonal mirrors in the amount of 800 units, with a diameter of 1.4 meters. The diameter of the rotating dome will be much greater, at 86 metres. The length is almost a football field.

And width even more. The design of the telescope EELT, by weight, exceeding 5 thousand tons. Three thousand of them belong to the movable part of the apparatus, the Project is funded by the European southern Observatory. There are 13 European States, Chile, and Brazil.Go to the Main page

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