Paranal Observatory Archives

Gigantic infrared map of the Milky Way, ESO Larger images

Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

ESO Telescope Captures The Most Detailed Infrared Map Ever Of Our Home Galaxy

by Keith CowingSeptember 27, 2024September 27, 2024

Astronomers have published a gigantic infrared map of the Milky Way containing more than 1.5 billion objects ― the most detailed one ever made. Using the European Southern Observatory’s VISTA […]

The primary mirror of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), known as M1, will be by far the largest mirror ever made for a telescope. With a diameter of more than 39 metres, M1 is too large to be made from a single piece of glass and will instead consist of 798 hexagonal segments, each about five centimetres thick and 1.5 metres across, working together to collect tens of millions of times as much light as the human eye. An additional 133 segments have been produced to facilitate the maintenance and recoating of the segments once the telescope is operational. ESO has also procured 18 spare segments, bringing the total number to 949. Now, German company SCHOTT has successfully cast the blank for the last of the 949 segments, seen in this photo. Credit: SCHOTT Larger image

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

An Immense Astrobiology Tool: Last Segment Blank Of The Extremely Large Telescope Mirror Delivered

by Keith CowingJune 28, 2024June 28, 2024

Editor’s note: according to the ESO website: “The ELT will revolutionise the study of planets outside our Solar System. It will allow us to obtain direct images of some of […]