The Site for Future Giant Telescope

The arch of the Milky Way is photographed over Cerro Armazones; a 3064m high mountain located in the Chilean Coast Range. Because it is dark, has steady atmospheric condition (good seeing), and it receives almost 350 cloudless in a year, it is selected by the European Southern Observatory as the site for the planned European Extremely Large Telescope (EELT). By 2018 there will be a nearly 30-story-high dome on this location which will house the giant telescope. It will be the world’s largest telescope with aperture of 42 meters; four times the diameter of the current largest optical telescopes. As recorded in this photo the atmospheric conditions above the site are monitored by researchers now.