Night Time-lapse: Extremely Large Telescope under Construction in Chile | ESO

Night Time-lapse: Extremely Large Telescope under Construction in Chile | ESO

This time-lapse shows the dome of European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), under construction in Chile’s Atacama Desert, from sunset on April 3, 2024 to sunrise the next day.

A multi-layered cladding is being installed over the dome’s steel skeleton—it will thermally insulate the telescope structure to protect it from the extreme desert environment and help regulate the air temperature. Over the telescope, the stunning night sky shows the Milky Way band and the Magellanic Clouds. Towards the end of the clip, the Moon rises in the east before a new day begins.

When finished, the dome will weigh in at 6,100 tonnes, and it will need a mind-boggling 30 million bolts to be held together. This huge structure will shelter the telescope during observations, protecting it from the elements. The entire behemoth will rotate on 36 stationary trolleys, allowing astronomers to observe the southern sky from just about any direction they fancy. The current largest optical telescopes have diameters of up to ten meters, and the ELT's diameter will thus be four times greater. 

Altitude: 3046 meters

Planned year of technical first light: 2027

Learn more about ESO’s ELT at: https://elt.eso.org

Credit: B. Häußler/ESO

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: May 21, 2024

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