ESO1d ago

New instance, new #introduction !

Hi #fediverse ! We’re the European Southern Observatory, and we design, build and operate ground-based telescopes.

One of them is our Extremely Large Telescope, currently under construction in #Chile. It will have a 39 m mirror, and its rotating enclosure will weigh 6100 tonnes, or about 700 mastodons!

We’re looking forward to chatting with all of you about #astronomy

And many thanks to @sebinthestars for running our former instance!

📷 ESO/G. Vecchia

Show threadLarge Format Projectionist1d ago

@esoastronomy @sebinthestars
A 39 METER mirror.

I'm so old, I remember when the transport of the Mt. Palomar's Hale Telescope's 1.2m mirror was one of the wonders of technology. It's transport up the mountain had photos in most newspapers.

This project is far more than 32.5x more amazing!!!!!

Show threadESO
@Benhm3 We feel you! Our first telescope at La Silla Observatory had a 1 m mirror. The ELT will have 798 hexagonal segments, each 1.5 m wide, working together as a huge single mirror.
Jun 26 at 4:51pmWeb
Show threadLarge Format Projectionist1d ago

@esoastronomy

Do the mirrors move in absolute synchrony (to remove the twinkle) or is each mirror moving itself to put whatever wavelength in-phase at the instrument?

Or some other thing I know nothing about...not an astronomer.

Show threadESO9h ago
@Benhm3 Atmospheric turbulence will be corrected with two other mirrors: the M4, which is a flexible mirror that can deform 1000 times per second, and the M5, a flat mirror that will tip & tilt to stabilise the image (also against vibrations due to wind or the telescope itself). You can find more details here: https://elt.eso.org/telescope/adaptiveoptics/
Adaptive Optics | ELT | ESO

The Extremely Large Telescope: The World's Biggest Eye On The Sky