By Nono Barahona. June 13, 2017
SANTIAGO, Chile. Last May 26, a symbolic ceremony was held to kick
off the construction of the world’s largest optical/near-infrared telescope,
which will stand on the top of Armazones Hill, a mountain in northern Chile.
Dubbed the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT, for short) by the
European Southern Observatory (ESO), the organization that will build and run
it, the telescope’s goal will be to search for life in other planets, according
to the Chilean press.
With a price tag of 1.5 billion US dollar, it is by far the most expensive scientific endeavor ever undertaken in Chile.
The ceremony was attended by the Chilean President, Michelle Bachelet. However, strong winds prevented the ceremony from being held at the actual Armazones Hill, which, at 3,000 meters above sea level, will be home to the Extremely Large Telescope.
President Bachelet was quoted as saying that “here were are building more than a telescope, it is one of the greatest expressions of scientific and technological capacity, with an extraordinary potential for international cooperation”.
The Atacama desert, the driest place on earth, where the telescope will be located, is blessed with transparent skies that make it ideal for gazing at the heavens.
The ESO already operates other three telescopes in Chile.
This writer vividly remembers his visit to the Mamalluca
observatory, in northern Chile, in the vicinity of the city of Vicuña. On an
ordinary summer night, the sky was teeming with celestial objects ---a stark
contrast to the murky sky over Santiago and other Chilean cities.
If a small tourist attraction such as Mamalluca can boast such a splendid view of the heavens, then one can only imagine how amazing the sky over Armazones Hill is.
According to the ESO website and the Chilean press, the ELT will have a 39-meter wide main mirror housed in a gigantic 85-meter dome, and is expected to be operational in 2024.
In the Chilean press, Tim De Zeeuw, the ESO’s Director
General, was quoted as saying that “it is possible that the ELT may find
evidence of life in some other world”. Let’s just hope that the ELT can deliver
on that promise.
