Physics
Today: The European Southern Observatory has announced that
the Cerro Armazones site in Chile will be the baseline site for
the planned $1.3 billion optical/infrared 42-meter European
Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), and not the island of Las
Palmas as hoped by ESO member state Spain.
Cerro Armazones is a mountain at an altitude of 3060 meters in
the central part of Chile’s Atacama Desert, some 130
kilometers south of the town of Antofagasta and about 20
kilometers from Cerro Paranal, home of ESO’s Very Large
Telescope. The site was always the favorite candidate for the
E-ELT due to the lack of water vapor at the site, and the clear
skies. The final clincher for the location was the potential
integration with ESO’s Paranal Observatory, which should
produce some cost savings as well as new scientific
opportunities.“This is an important milestone that allows
us to finalize the baseline design of this very ambitious
project, which will vastly advance astronomical
knowledge,” says ESO director general Tim de Zeeuw.
“Adding the transformational scientific capabilities of
the E-ELT to the already tremendously powerful integrated VLT
observatory guarantees the long-term future of Paranal as the
most advanced optical/infrared observatory in the world and
further strengthens ESO’s position as the world-leading
organisation for ground-based astronomy,” he adds.To
support the project, the Chilean Government has agreed to
donate to ESO a substantial tract of land contiguous to
ESO’s Paranal property and containing Armazones in order
to ensure that the site is protected in particular light
pollution and mining activities.The final go-ahead for
construction of the E-ELT is expected at the end of 2010, with
the start of operations planned for 2018.Paul Guinnessy
