At the end of May 2017, construction of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) began on Cerro Armazones in Chile. The largest telescope ever, its primary mirror will have a diameter of 39 meters and 15 times the light-gathering power of the largest optical telescopes currently in operation. The ELT’s optics follow a new design in which light passes through a total of five mirrors and, with its adaptive optics, will provide images about 15 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope. The talk will introduce the concept of this largest optical telescope in the world, report on the current progress of construction, and some of the fundamental astronomical questions that will be explored with the telescope. Topics range from extrasolar planets, black holes, birth, life and death of stars, evolution of galaxies, cosmology and early universe to fundamental questions of physics of our time.
About Dr Peter Habison
Space is his focus and passion: Peter Habison, astronomer, physicist and science historian, is Head of Science Communication of the European Southern Observatory ESO for Austria. Previously, he managed the Kuffner & Urania Observatory and the Planetarium of the City of Vienna for many years. He has published over 50 scientific and popular science papers, and in 2014 his book “Weltraum-Land Österreich Pioniere der Raumfahrt erzählen” (Space Country Austria Pioneers Tell Stories) was published.
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