Extremely Large Telescope

Atristic impression of a giant telescope dome, around the size of a football stadium. The building is open and 8 lasers are pointing from the inside of the building to the sky.

This artist’s rendering shows the Extremely Large Telescope in operation on Cerro Armazones in northern Chile. The telescope is shown using lasers to create artificial stars high in the atmosphere. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

When building work on the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is finished in 2028, it will be the world's largest optical and Near Infrared telescope. The telescope will be part of the European Southern Observatory in Chile. The observatory’s design means the telescope will gather 100 million times more light than a human eye.

Related artefacts

Lego ELT

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is a revolutionary ground-based telescope being built by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) which will start exploring space in 2028. This Lego model is 150 times smaller than the actual 80 metre tall telescope and shows what it will look like inside the dome.

Lego ELT design by Franz Snik

A giant telescope dome which is not completed, the metallic frame before it is covered in panels is seen.

ELT Live Webcam

Webcams showing what the ELT looks like right now:

https://elt.eso.org/about/webcams/