#Biggest telescope professional#

VDL ETG Projects has been working with ELT for just under ten years. The telescope should be operational in 2024. Construction of the ELT's foundation has already begun. Therefore nearly 950 mirror segments and supporting structures are being built.ДЄ total of around one billion euros has been made available for the ELT project. The mirrors will have to be swapped out on a regular basis to have a new reflective layer applied. The continuous correction is achieved by nine electric motors on each frame and three electric motors under each frame.

Each mirror segment has its own support structure and will be driven by multiple electric motors, allowing the mirror to be positioned very precisely. It is impossible to make the 39-metre main mirror as a single element, so the mirror will be constructed from 798 hexagonal mirror segments, each approximately 1.4 metres across and 5В centimetres thick. The main mirror with adaptive control system will form the largest-ever telescope for visible-light observations. The design was created in collaboration with the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), with support from the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA). VDL ETG Projects will take responsibility for the construction of these structures. The hexagonal, mechatronic supporting structure holds the primary mirror of the telescope in the desired shape with nanometre precision. The ELT will enable new scientific discoveries related to planets, the composition of nearby galaxies and the deep universe.

#Biggest telescope professional#

The вЂeyeвЂ™ of the telescope is nearly as large as half a football field and will capture more light than all other existing large, professional optical telescopes collectively. The ELT is similar in size to a football stadium. This will further boost VDL Groep's reputation as a high-tech player and will be a springboard to our involvement in more new telescopes that ESO is building around the world.вЂќ Telescope This project is a great calling card for European high-tech industry. This is the first time an astronomy-related contract of this size has gone to a Dutch party. Willem van der Leegte says, вЂњIt is wonderful that ESO has awarded us this prestigious order. ESO Director General Xavier Barcons and VDL Groep President and CEO Willem van der Leegte signed the contract for the order today at the headquarters of the European Southern Observatory in Garching (near Munich), Germany.