World’s largest telescope project gets final approval
This image of galaxies in the farthest reaches of deep space was released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) on December 11, 2002. With their new telescope, the ESO will be able to take sharper photos deeper in space.
The world's largest telescope project received final approval from the scientific consortium backing the new observatory, on Monday.
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) will build the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) at a cost of $12.5 billion. The telescope will be capable of directly imaging large exoplanets, find Earth-like planets in "habitable zones," perform "stellar archeology," and probe the nature of dark matter and dark energy.
The E-ELT will be shared by 15 European countries, according to Wired.
"This is an excellent outcome and a great day for ESO. We can now move forward on schedule with this giant project," ESO Director General Tim de Zeeuw said in a statement, according to Space.com.
More from GlobalPost: Space Shuttle Enterprise makes its final journey to Intrepid Museum (PHOTOS)
The E-ELT will gather more light than all of the existing telescopes on the planet, combined. That gives it the resolution to detect water and organic molecules in distant galaxies, the ESO website explained,.
The ESO shared more on the E-ELT in this video:
The ESO team is even expecting the unexpected. "On top of this astronomers are also planning for the unexpected — new and unforeseeable questions will surely arise from the new discoveries made with the E-ELT."
The telescope will sit on the Cerro Armazones mountain in Chile and should be operational by the early 2020's.
The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?