the european extremely large telescope (E-ELT) Artist’s impression of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) in its enclosure on Cerro Armazones, a 3060-metre mountain top in Chile’s Atacama Desert. (Credit: ESO/L. Calcada The proposed European Extremely large telescope (E-ELT) will be the largest optical and near-infrared telescope in the world, giving us a much more detailed and deeper view of the Universe from Earth than ever before.

urrent major ground-based zones’, and perhaps answer one of telescopes have mirrors humanities biggest questions – ‘are C ranging between 8-10 we alone in the Universe?’ metres in diameter. The mirror for • Examine the first objectives in CONTACT the proposed E-ELT will have a the Universe and the subsequent diameter of 39 meters – the length evolution of galaxies and black holes, Colin Cunningham of 5 classic London buses. helping us to understand how our Director of UK E-ELT Programme Universe came to look the way it Expanding our view does today. T: +44 (0)131 6688223 of the universe E: [email protected] The E-ELT will address many of the • Explore the nature and distribution of www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/e-elt.html dark matter and dark energy, thought www.roe.ac.uk/elt/index.html key questions in astronomy and astrophysics, thereby significantly to make up most of our Universe, increasing our fundamental but as yet not directly observed or understood. For media enquiries please contact: understanding of the Universe. The +44 (0)1793 442094 E-ELT will enable astronomers to: • Directly measure the expansion • Directly image and investigate rate and acceleration of the planets outside our Solar System, Universe, without the need to make including rocky planets in ‘habitable assumptions such as a standard Telescope. Technologies developed The ESO Council has selected a site luminosity for distant supernovae. for adaptive optics will be pushed for the E-ELT on Cerro Armazones to very high performance. They in Chile close to the existing VLT These measurements, made are already finding applications in site of Cerro Paranal. Civil works possible by a suite of advanced ophthalmology to help discover in preparation for construction are instruments, will have a major diseases of the retina, and underway. Contracts for the dome impact on our understanding of the enhancing the performance of and main structure are planned to Universe. microscopes to enable new levels be awarded in 2015.. First scientific of precision in 3D tissue imaging. results are planned for 2026. The biggest eye on the sky The UK – working The biggest eye on the sky will towards first light have an innovative five-mirror The European Southern design that will gather 12 times Observatory (ESO) has been more light than the largest optical working with teams of scientists, telescopes operating today. engineers and industrial contractors from across Europe to The primary mirror will consist of perfect the telescope’s design and 798 hexagonal segments, each performance. 1.4 metres wide and 50mm thick, providing more light collecting ESO is an intergovernmental area than all the 23 current optical organisation for astronomical research telescopes greater than 4 research and is supported by 15 metres in diameter put together. countries, including the UK. The UK is playing a leading role in the A UK consortium based at the E-ELT, leading the generation of the OpTIC Glyndwr in North Wales is science requirements, developing developing prototypes for these instrument designs and adaptive mirror segments, aimed at securing optics technologies, designing potential contracts worth over telescope systems through €100M for manufacturing the industrial contracts and developing production segments in the UK manufacturing processes for the industry. Other benefits of the optical elements. related technology spin-off include the potential for huge industrial The UK E-ELT programme will build and social benefits in fields ranging opportunities for the UK industry in from green energy (laser fusion) to the construction of the telescope healthcare (high-precision artificial and its instrumentation. UK joints with longer life). companies, including Arup, Ramboll UK, Observatory Scientists, OpTIC Adaptive optics systems will Glyndr, Scisys, and e2v have correct for the distortion and already been involved in the turbulence caused by the Earth’s preliminary phases. atmosphere and will provide images 15 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space

www.stfc.ac.uk

01/04/2015