Construction Starting on the E-Elt Telescope in Cerro Armazones, Chile

The E-ELT telescope is a frontline scientific project that will allow science to address many of the most pressing unsolved questions about the Universe. E-Elt will be the largest telescope in the world at 90 meters tall, 100 meters to the base, 5 thousand tons of weight, and a volume comparable to that of the Colosseum. It will be able to take in 100 million times more light than the human eye in both visible and infrared light, and it will be able to detect objects millions of millions of times fainter. It will cost over one billion euros.

Italian companies are involved in the structural design of the rotating dome and supporting structure. Asdea was hired as a consultant for the whole cycle design along with Asdaldi, Cimolai, and Eie. ASDEA also performed the seismic hazard study and developed a 3D seismic isolation system to protect the telescope.

The commissioning agency is Eso (European Southern Observatory), which is an organization of 15 countries that will primarily handle the European E-ELT. Eso’s project is the biggest commission never banned for an astronomy ground project of 400 million (over one billion euros).