Man has always been extremely fascinated with the stars, planets, comets, galaxies, solar systems and how we as human beings relate to them. The Dogon tribe in Africa has had advanced knowledge of the Sirius Star and the solar system without the use of any telescopes. In addition to that you have the worldwide study of astronomy and the discovery of new stars and planets that coincide with major advances in Telescope technology. There is a major project that has begun to build what will be the largest telescope in the world. The name of the telescope will be the European Extremely Large Telescope.
The European Southern Observatory is a multinational organization that is behind this telescope project. The cost of building the largest telescope in the world will be $1.34 Billion. Full operation of the telescope will begin in the year 2024. The largest telescope in the world will have a super large 39 meters (127.952 feet) aperture. That is the size of the hole within the telescopes lens. This will enable the telescope to have far superior capabilities to any others in operation today.
The Extremely Large Telescope will be built on top of Cerro Armazones which is a 3,000 meter (10,000 foot) mountain in Chile’s Atacama Desert. This part of the world is considered to be one of the best locations for sky observation. The Extremely Large Telescope will capture 15 times more light than the largest telescopes in existence. This telescope will create images 15 times sharper than those captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope will process images 10 times faster than current advanced observation technology. The telescope will be able to capture highly accurate and sharp images of distant galaxies, exoplanets, disks of gas and dust around distant stars. The Extremely Large Telescope will allow astronomers to be able to capture the early stages of a planets formation and creation. That is amazing! The ELT will search for exoplanets that orbit distant stars.
It is interesting to see how far technology is advancing with the creation of this telescope. I just hope that there will be full disclosure when it comes to the information that will be discovered and uncovered via the completion and full operation of this telescope. The more we understand the depths of space, we will be able to understand how we are truly in a relationship with the surrounding universe. Perhaps we may decide to treat our home Planet Earth better. This article may also inspire some of us to become amateur astronomers and purchase telescopes so we can see some of the star systems that are at our disposal. There are some very powerful telescopes on the market that are quit affordable. If we stopped being mesmerized by our smartphones, tablets, and laptops we could see and study the stars!
