ESO flatten mountain to make room for European Extremely Large Telescope

(The explosion – Photo Credit: Daily Mail)

The European Southern Observatory have taken their first big step in building the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) by blowing up the top of a mountain in Chile.

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) detonated explosives in the 9,842-foot peak in the Atacama Desert to shape the mountain before the construction of the European-Extremely Large Telescope. The blasting event deducted around 55 feet from the top of the mountain, with around a million tonnes of rock removed in the process to create a flat base for the telescope to be assembled on.

(A gif of the explosion – Photo Credit: Daily Mail)

Once built, the E-ELT will become the world’s biggest ground-based telescope. The telescope’s main mirror will be nearly 128 feet in diameter. For comparison, the Keck telescopes in Hawaii have mirrors about 33 feet wide. It will collect light about 15 times faster than any other telescope, and will create images 16 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope.

(Artists conception of the EELT – Photo Credit: ESO)

Tim de Zeeuw, ESO’s director general, announced during a ceremony before the blast: “Finding evidence of life elsewhere in the universe would be a transformational development in the history of our species. It is actually quite ironic that this could happen right here in the Atacama Desert, one of the most beautiful, but certainly very lifeless, locations on our own planet.”

“It will dwarf every other telescope, and it will allow tremendous astronomical discoveries not only in the deep universe, but also closer to home,” de Zeeuw said. “For example, providing an unprecedented look into the properties of the supermassive black hole that lurks in the center of our Milky Way.”

The telescope will have the ability to see back to the beginning of the universe, even having the technology to watch the formation of the first stars and galaxies. The E-ELT will also be used to help scientists figure out the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.