The illustration shows a three-dimensional model of the E-ELT telescope "in its natural habitat" - on a specially prepared site on the top of Mount Armazones (Cerro Armazones) in Chile.
The technology that astronomers are now working with is so advanced that they can look into almost the most distant (and therefore most ancient) corners of the Universe. But, as often happens, for example, in sports, in order to improve an already first-class result a little more, colossal efforts are needed. In order for a telescope to see fainter objects, it must collect more light. Since there is nowhere to take extra observation time, it is necessary to increase the size of telescopes. Fortunately, technologies like active and adaptive optics make this possible.
Emphasizing the size and technical features of new telescopes (or, as is sometimes joked, due to the lack of imagination among astronomers), they are often given simple names. For example, Very Large Telescope (VLT) or Large Binocular Telescope. This also applies to many telescopes that are still planned to be built: the Thirty-meter Telescope (with a main mirror diameter of 30 m), the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. The largest of the telescopes of the near future - the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) with a mirror diameter of 39 meters - is also in trend.
On 25 May this year, an important milestone in the history of the E-ELT was passed: at ESO's headquarters in Garching near Munich, Germany, a contract was signed with the ACe Consortium for the construction of the telescope's tower, dome and mechanical structures. This is the largest contract in the history of ground-based astronomy: its value is 400 million euros.
For this money, the consortium will build a rotating dome with a diameter of 85 meters with a total mass of about 5,000 tons and install in it fasteners for the telescope and pipe structure, the total moving mass of which will exceed 3,000 tons. Both of these mechanical structures will be much larger in size than all similar structures of modern ground-based telescopes. The tower will be almost 80 meters high, and the area under it will be comparable to the area of a football field.
The mirror itself will have an area of 978 m2 and consist of 798 regular hexagons with a diagonal of 1.4 m and a thickness of only 5 cm. If we compare the E-ELT with any VLT unit, it will collect 15 times more light, which means see objects 15 times fainter. It is this new generation of telescopes that is expected to be able to see signs of the biosphere on planets outside the solar system and discover the very first galaxies after the Big Bang.
Alexey Paevsky
Supergiant telescopes are now considered one of the top priorities for ground-based astronomy. They will enormously advance astrophysical knowledge, allowing detailed research on a variety of current topics: planets around other stars, the earliest objects in the Universe, supermassive black holes, the nature and distribution of dark matter and dark energy that dominate the Universe.
Since late 2005, ESO has been developing a concept for a new giant telescope together with the European astronomical community and industry.
The new instrument is designated by the acronym ELT (Extremely Large Telescope). This telescope, a revolutionary new design for ground-based instruments, will have a 39-meter primary mirror and will be the world's largest optical and near-infrared telescope: “humanity's greatest eye on the sky.”
Program The ELT was accepted in 2012, and at the end of 2014 the start of construction of the telescope was officially announced. In May 2017, the President of Chile came to the ceremony of laying the first stone in the foundation of the future telescope.
The latest news and press releases regarding ELT construction can be found at this link.
Scientific research with ELT
The start of regular operation of the telescope is planned for the beginning of the next decade. The power of ELT will be harnessed to address the biggest scientific challenges of our time. He will do many things for the first time, such as finding the Holy Grail of modern observational astronomy: Earth-like planets around other stars, in “habitable zones” where life can exist. He will also conduct “stellar archaeology” in nearby galaxies, making fundamental contributions to cosmology by measuring the properties of the first stars and galaxies, determining the nature of dark matter and dark energy. And most importantly, astronomers are preparing for the unexpected - for new unforeseen questions, which, of course, will appear along with new discoveries made with ELT.
Scientific tasks
A versatile optical and near-infrared telescope with an exceptionally large aperture. Some areas of research: high redshift galaxies, star formation, exoplanets, protoplanetary systems.
Live Image
See Cerro Armazones in real time from the nearby peak of Cerro Paranal. The picture is updated every hour during the daytime. Click to enlarge.
The earth's atmosphere perfectly transmits radiation in the near-infrared, optical and radio ranges. Thanks to this, using a telescope we can examine in detail space objects located hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from us.
The history of the telescope began in 1609. It was invented, of course, by Galileo. He took a spotting scope he had created years earlier and installed it with three times magnification. Then it was a breakthrough. But more than four centuries have already passed, and people are surprised by other inventions. And one of the most amazing things is the world's largest telescope.
European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT)
This is exactly what its name sounds like in the original. Translated literally as follows: “European Extremely Large Telescope.” And it’s hard to disagree with the dimensions stated in the name. It really is extremely large - you can see by looking at the photo above.
Where is the largest telescope in the world? In Chile, on the top of the Cerro Armazones mountain, whose height is 3,060 meters. It is unique because it is an astronomical observatory.
The telescope itself will be equipped with a segmented mirror, the diameter of which is 39.3 m. It consists of many hexagonal segments (798 of them, to be more precise). The thickness of each is 50 mm and the diameter is 1.4 m.
Such a mirror will make it possible to collect as much as 15 times more light than any currently existing telescope can. Plus, the E-ELT is planned to be equipped with a unique adaptive optical system consisting of five mirrors. It is this that will provide compensation for the turbulence of the earth’s atmosphere. In addition, thanks to this technology, images will become much clearer and more detailed than before.
Construction of E-ELT
So far, the largest telescope in the world has not been put into operation. It's just under construction. The process was expected to take 11-12 years. The start of work was scheduled for 2012, but in the end it was postponed to March 2014. For the first 16 months it was planned:
- Build an access road to the place where the telescope tower will be located.
- Prepare a supporting platform at the top of the mountain.
- Install trenches for cables and pipes.
The first thing they did was blow up the top of the Armazones rock - right in the place where it was planned to build the notorious tower. This happened in 2014, on June 20. By blowing up the rock, it was possible to prepare a support for a multi-ton instrument.
Then, in 2015, on November 12, the traditional groundbreaking ceremony was held.
And on May 26, 2016, the largest contract in the history of ground-based astronomy was signed at the headquarters of the European Southern Observatory. His subject, of course, was the construction of the dome, tower and mechanical structures of the supertelescope. This cost 400,000,000 euros.
At the moment, the project is being carried out in full force. On May 30 of this year, 2017, another contract was signed, the most important - for the production of the notorious 39.3-meter mirror.
The production of the segments of which it will consist is carried out by the international technology concern Schott, located in Germany. And their polishing, assembly and testing will be carried out by specialists from the French company Reosc, part of the industrial conglomerate Safran, which operates in the field of high technology and electronics.
Possibility of invention
The project to build the largest telescope in the world has been fully funded, so we can say with confidence that the construction of the observatory will be completed. There is even an approximate date for putting the device into operation - 2024.
His capabilities are impressive. If you believe scientists, then the largest telescope in the world will be able not only to find planets close to Earth in size - it will be able to study the composition of their atmosphere using a spectrograph! And this opens up unprecedented prospects in the study of space objects located outside the solar system.
In addition, with the help of E-ELT, scientists will be able to explore the early stages of space development, and even find out accurate data on the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe. It will also be possible to check physical constants for constancy over time, and even find organic matter and water on the discovered planets.
In fact, the largest telescope in the world is a direct path to answers to a number of fundamental scientific questions related to space and even the origin of life.
And if indeed all of the above (or at least something) takes place, then this will turn out to be the most justified billion of dollars invested in the invention of something. $1,000,000,000 is the cost declared by the European Southern Observatory for the largest telescope in the world, the photo of which is presented above.
Thirty Meter Telescope
It was said above which telescope can rightfully be considered the largest in the world. Thirty Meter Telescope is second to it. The diameter of the main mirror is 30 meters. And the TMT is located on Mauna Kea (Hawaii), whose height reaches 4,050 m.
It is the next largest optical telescope in the world. The project was approved in 2013, and preparatory work began at the same time.
It is worth noting that the TMT costs the same as the world's largest optical telescope, E-ELT. $1 billion has already been invested in it. And 100 million were spent even before construction work began. The money was spent on design documentation, construction, and also on preparation of the construction site. Official construction started in 2014, on October 7.
The TMT project was of interest to many - it was sponsored not only by the US government, but also by Canada, China, India, and Japan.
It’s interesting that the organizers almost caused problems for themselves by choosing Mauna Kea as the location for the future observatory. This place is sacred to the native Hawaiians. Naturally, many of them sharply opposed the construction of the largest telescope in the world on it (there is a photo above). But in the end, the Hawaii Bureau of Land and Natural Resources gave the go-ahead for construction.
Giant Magellan Telescope
Here's also what the largest telescope in the world is worth noting. The Giant Magellan Telescope is a project between Australia and the United States. At the moment, construction is in full swing. GMT, like E-ELT, is located in Chile. A more precise location is the Las Campanas Observatory, located at an altitude of 2,516 meters above sea level.
This invention will be based on a main mirror with a diameter of 25.4 m. In addition to the giant reflector, the telescope will receive the latest adaptive optics. It will make it possible to eliminate as much as possible all the distortions that the atmosphere creates during observations.
If you believe scientists, then all of the above will make it possible to obtain 10 times higher quality images than those currently provided by Hubble, which is in orbit.
In theory, GMT will perform a lot of functions. With the help of this invention, scientists will be able to find exoplanets and take pictures of them, explore galactic, stellar and planetary evolution, black holes and the manifestation of dark energy. With GMT it may even be possible to observe the very first generation of galaxies.
The work is expected to be completed in 2020. But the developers are more positive - they say that the telescope will most likely see “first light” with four mirrors. They just need to be introduced into the design. If this is so, then this event will happen very soon - work is currently underway to create a fourth mirror.
Gran Telescopio Canarias
This is the largest telescope in the world, capable of performing coronagraphic, polarimetric, and spectrometric studies of cosmic bodies. The diameter of its main glass is 10.4 m.
It is located in Spain, on the island of La Palma (2,267 meters above sea level). Its construction was completed quite a long time ago, in 2009. At the same time, the official opening ceremony took place, which was attended by King Juan Carlos I himself.
This project cost 130,000,000 euros. It was funded 90% by Spain and 10% by Mexico and the University of Florida. Since the GTC is a functioning telescope (while others are just under construction), it is in first place in the ranking of inventions with the largest mirror in the world. By the way, it is made up of only 36 segments.
Vatican Project
Now we will talk about a very interesting topic. In 2010, a new telescope was opened on Mount Graham in Arizona. A whole team of scientists from major German universities, specialists from the Vatican (the founders of the project), as well as professors from Arizona State University worked on it for a long time. It may not be the largest telescope in the world, but it is an amazing invention. And it’s worth talking about.
So this is the greatest reflecting telescope in the world. Which is called... "Lucifer". The world's largest binocular-type telescope with two parabolic mirrors, each with a diameter of 8.4 m, is called exactly that.
What’s most interesting is that this word is made up of abbreviation letters. In the original it looks like this - L.U.C.I.F.E.R. If you decipher it, you get: Large Binocular Telescope Near-ifred Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research.
The device is high-tech. Its non-standard design provides many advantages. This invention, using two mirrors at the same time, is capable of creating images of the same object in different filters. And this reduces the time spent on observation by an order of magnitude.
BTA
This abbreviation refers to the largest optical telescope in the world of the azimuthal type in Eurasia. It is based on a monolithic mirror with a diameter of 6 m. What is most interesting is that its location is the Special Astrophysical Observatory, located in the North Caucasus (Karachay-Cherkess Republic).
At the moment, this institution is the largest astronomical center for ground-based observations of the Universe in our country.
It is worth noting that BTA from 1975 to 1993. was the telescope with the largest lens in the world. For those times it was truly an amazing invention. It outperformed the 200-inch Hale reflecting telescope! But then the Keck telescope started working, the mirror of which was 10 m in diameter. True, it turned out to be segmented, while the BTA was monolithic. The mirror of the Russian telescope is to this day the heaviest in the world in terms of mass. Like the astronomical dome of the observatory - the largest on the planet.
RATAN-600
In addition to the BTA, the North Caucasus Observatory also has a ring radio telescope. Its name is RATAN-600. And it is the most powerful radio astronomy telescope in the world. The diameter of its reflective mirror reaches 600 meters! This component ensures increased sensitivity of the telescope to brightness temperature and its multi-frequency.
True, the radio telescope was not created at all for observing celestial objects and studying them. This astronomical instrument is designed to receive radiation, the source of which is cosmic bodies. These signals allow scientists to find out the coordinates of the location of celestial objects, determine their spatial structure, polarization and spectrum, and radiation intensity.
Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Project
SKA is an interferometer, the construction of which was allocated one and a half billion euros. If it can be constructed, it will become 50 times more powerful astronomical instrument than any other radio telescopes on our planet.
The prospects for the invention are impressive. The SKA will be able to scan the sky at least 10,000 times faster than other similar but less powerful devices.
What about the location? Where will the world's largest radio astronomy telescope be located?
According to information about the project, the SKA antennas were supposed to cover an area of 1 sq. km. Such a scale would provide absolute, unprecedented sensitivity. But later it was decided to place the antennas in several places at once - in South Africa, Australia, and also in New Zealand. It is from there that the best view of the Milky Way and the entire Galaxy is provided. At the same time, the level of radio interference is lower.
It should be noted that already in 2016, in July, this largest optical telescope in the world officially began its work. More precisely, its part located in South Africa is MeerKAT. In its first operating session, this telescope discovered thousands of galaxies that were previously unknown.
Leader among refractors
Back in 1900, the World Astronomical Exhibition was held in Paris. An invention was designed specifically for the exhibition, which became the world's largest refracting telescope. His photo is shown above.
Refractors are optical telescopes familiar to all of us, modern versions of which are characterized by compactness. Their design is much simpler than that of the inventions listed above. Refractors use a lens system called an objective lens to collect light.
But the French invention is impressive in its size. The diameter of the lens reaches 59 inches (that's 125 centimeters), and the focal length is 57 meters.
Naturally, this device was practically not used as an astronomical instrument. But the spectacle was impressive. Unfortunately, in 1909 it was dismantled and dismantled.
This is because the company that sponsored the process of manufacturing this device (which took 14 years) went bankrupt. The company announced this immediately after the end of the exhibition. Therefore, in 1909, the invention was put up for auction. However, there was no buyer for such an extraordinary item, and it suffered the sad fate that has already been mentioned. So it is impossible to look through a telescope these days.
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