European Extremely Large Telescope
The European Extremely Large Telescope (E -ELT ), short- Extremely Large Telescope ( ELT), is a planned optical telescope of the next generation for the European Southern Observatory ( ESO). It receives a primary mirror 39 meters in diameter, which will be composed of 798 hexagonal mirror elements. It is expected that construction will be completed in 2022; original completion in 2018 was planned.
The plans were carried out in a three-year study (Phase B ), which was approved by the ESO in December 2006. An essential component of the phase is working on a basic design for the telescope ( Baseline Reference Design ), the third version was the end of 2008 work. The phase is funded with € 57.3 million. The assessment of the final design took place from 21 - 24th Of September 2010.
The ESO has its plans in favor of this telescope changed because the originally planned Overwhelmingly Large Telescope would have cost (OWL at 100 meters, about 2030) according to a study over a billion euros and would be too complex for the current technical possibilities. Another, more far-reaching in the future preliminary study concerns the 50 -m telescope EURO 50, whose realization was also abolished in favor of the E -ELT first.
On 9 December 2011, the decision was made to build the telescope in Chile's Atacama desert, although not all 15 Member States of the European Southern Observatory had the additional financing needs of the appliance. The costs were estimated end of 2011 to 1.1 billion euros. At a meeting of the ESO Council on 11 June 2012 at the ESO Headquarters in Garching, the final decision was taken to build the necessary two - thirds majority of the ESO- members. It was determined that until the approval of at least 90 percent of the construction costs by Member States initially only appropriations for preparatory work on the location of the telescope to be released.
On 3 March 2013, the project was ratified by all participating countries, construction began in March 2014.
Location
As a site included Argentina, Chile, Morocco, Spain (La Palma ), South Africa, Tibet, Greenland and Antarctica have been considered. Have been studied extensively, especially the first four options. On 26 April 2010 Cerro Armazones, a mountain with 3060 m height, as the site for the E-ELT has been fixed. Cerro Armazones located in the Chilean Atacama Desert, about 130 km south of the town of Antofagasta and 20 km away from Cerro Paranal, home of the Very Large Telescope ( VLT). An agreement between ESO and the State of Chile, transmitted in the 189 km ² of land around the Cerro Armazones for the construction of the telescope at the ESO and further 362 km ² was declared in the area of the site for 50 years as a protected area to adverse effects on the E- to prevent ELT by light pollution or mining activities, was signed in Santiago de Chile on 13 October 2011. Overall, the protection zone of the Paranal Armazones complex was thus extended to 1270 km ². Due to its proximity to the VLT, a large part of the infrastructure necessary for the operation of the telescopes can be used together.
Equipment
The telescope at the Nasmyth mount will be equipped with several instruments, among which one should be able to switch within minutes. The positioning of the telescope and the dome of the sky in different places will be possible without great delay.
Eight different instruments and two focal modules are in design with the goal that at least two or three at the time of the First Light, the other to be completed in the subsequent decade.
The following instruments are proposed:
- CODEX: an optical spectrograph with a spectral resolution of
- EAGLE: a wide-angle multi-channel integral -field near-infrared ( NIR) spectrograph with adaptive multi-object optical
- EPICS: an optical / near-infrared planetary camera with spectrographs with extreme adaptive optics
- HARMONI: an integral broadband Feldspektrograf
- METIS: camera and spectrograph for the Middle Infrared
- MICADO: a diffraction limited near-infrared camera
- OPTIMOS: an optical wide-angle multi-object spectrograph
- SIMPLE: a high-resolution NIR spectrograph
The two focal modules, which are in survey:
- ATLAS: a Lasertomografisches module with adaptive optics
- Maory: a module for multiple scattering using adaptive optics
Gallery
Diagram of the primary mirror.
Comparison of a study on the 39 - mE -ELT with a Unit Telescope of the Paranal Observatory 8.2 m mirror diameter
Rendering of the E -ELT during the day
Model of the gigantic and complex structure within the dome of the E -ELT.
Rendering of the E -ELT at dusk
Computer graphics with a view of the dome
Artist's impression of the E -ELT at night with artificial guide stars
Artist's impression of the opening of the dome for night observation
Artist's impression of the E -ELT in Action