Construction site of a European ultra-large telescope that looks like a desert planet

[▲ Image of ELT construction site created by “stereographic projection” (Credit: G.Hüdepohl (atacamaphoto.com) / ESO)]

This looks like a desert planetsphereWhat exactly is it?

If you know the movie “Star Wars”Desert planet “Tatooine (Tatooine）」WhenSpacecraft “Millennium Falcon (Millenium Falcon）」You might think of.

In fact, the European Southern Observatory (European Southern Observatory：IT’S) Is under construction on the summit of Cerro Armazones in the Atacama Desert, Chile.“European Extreme Telescope(Extremely Large Telescope：ELT)」It is the foundation of.

This unique image projects a panoramic image onto a single plane“Stereographic projection”Created in.

[▲ Panorama image of ELT construction site (Credit: G.Hüdepohl (atacamaphoto.com) / ESO)]

The dome built on the foundation has a caliber39mofGiant primary mirrorM1Is stored. This primary mirror798It consists of a single hexagonal mirror and is controlled in real time by a precision sensor system.This technique“Active optics”Is called.

AnotherM4mirrorTo compensate for the effects of atmospheric fluctuations,1In seconds1000The mirror will be deformed many times.Compensation opticsBy this technology calledELTCan take very detailed images of celestial bodies.

Looking at this image,ELTDepends on the neighboring cityLight pollutionYou can see how it is isolated from.Cerro Armazones Plateau is at altitude3000mLocated in the year320Cloudless nights continue for more than a day, for space observationBest placeIt is said that.

ELT2027It will be put into scientific operation in 2014 and will become one of the world’s leading astronomy facilities.This image is2022Taken in January of the year, April11Introduced on the day.

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