Here is a fantastic video showing the construction of the dome of the ELT, ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope under construction in Atacama, Chile.
Achieving great things takes time, there’s no doubt about that. Growing up is hard work, and this image, taken on 3 April 2024, shows ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) taking a well-deserved night’s rest, following construction progress over the past few days. The view from inside the telescope dome shows the progress of this gigantic structure, 80 meters high and 88 meters wide, which will protect the world’s largest eye facing the sky from Chile’s Atacama Desert.
The time-lapse video
The steel skeleton of the dome is complete. Now a protective insulation coating is applied to it, the dark blue panels you can see above. This cladding consists of several layers, including thermal insulation and aluminum foil on the outside. The air conditioning, active when the dome is closed, will keep the air inside at the same temperature as the outside environment. This will minimize “turbulence” that could otherwise blur the images captured by the ELT.
A beautiful telescope view of the Milky Way
In the center, on a separate concrete base to protect it from the vibrations that propagate through the ground, stands the structure azimuthal which will house the actual telescope and its suite of scientific instruments. At this time, the ELT facility can enjoy a beautiful view of the Milky Way during its night break. In the future, the telescope will operate at night, but will have access to the same view when the dome opens its wide viewing slot to see the sky.
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