In Fotones Valley at Cerro Armazones [1] in the Atacama desert [2], Chile, the construction for what will become the largest optical telescope in the world [3], with a diameter of 39 meters, are underway.
In 2010, the European Southern Observatory Board chose that location in the Chilean desert for the future E-ELT.2. It will be the most southern European telescope [4] (known by its acronym E-ELT [5]):
EN VIVO: Explosión del Cerro Armazones para colocar al mayor telescopio del mundo http://t.co/6vUYrwTfyW [6] pic.twitter.com/XwKZPSGtG8 [7]
— FayerWayer (@fayerwayer) June 19, 2014 [8]
LIVE: Explosions at Cerro Armazones to set up the biggest telescope of the world.
Cerro Armazones houses an observatory with three telescopes, with diameters 1.5 meters, 84 centimeters and 41 centimeters [9], the results of a joint project between several Chilean and foreign institutions and the European Southern Observatory. Representative Fernando Comerón noted [10] that “with E-ELT we are building a telescope for the 22nd century”. According to estimations, the works will go on for 10 years and the telescope will be fully functional two years later.