Installing the Giant Doors of The Extremely Large Telescope | ESO

Installing the Giant Doors of The Extremely Large Telescope | ESO

Our Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) needs extremely large doors. We are currently installing the giant sliding doors that will protect the ELT from the elements during the day, and open up at night to observe the Universe. The ELT dome has now reached its highest point—80 m. We celebrated this symbolic milestone in a ceremony, known as "tijerales" in Chile, raising the European Southern Observatory and Chilean flags atop the dome.

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is truly a massive building. The ELT is almost as tall as London's Big Ben clock tower and larger than Rome's Colosseum. The construction materials used for the ELT include: 10,000 tons of steel, 30 million bolts or 500 km of cables. Even compared to other large telescopes, the ELT is a one-of-a-kind.

The ELT can be seen including its dome, central structure, and base of the M1 mirror. The ELT stands at Cerro Armazones in Chile's Atacama Desert and will be one of the main flagships of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) for the next two decades. 

Altitude: 3,046 meters

Planned year of technical first light: 2027

Learn more about ESO’s ELT at:

https://elt.eso.org

In 2006, approval was given for the construction of the largest optical telescope on Earth—the ELT.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Directed by: Angelos Tsaousis 
Editing: Angelos Tsaousis
Written by: Bárbara Ferreira
Footage and photos: ESO, Luis Calçada, Angelos Tsaousis, Jose Porte, Max Nadjar

Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: May 2, 2025

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