The largest contract in the history of terrestrial astronomy signed
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) signed a contract last Wednesday for construction of the dome and the main structure of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The contract is worth approx. 400 million euros.
It is the largest contract ever awarded in ground-based astronomy.
At a ceremony held on 25 May in Garching bei München, Germany, ESO signed the contract for the construction of the dome and telescope structure of the E-ELT. ESO is the principal and the main contractor is the Italian ACE Consortium, consisting of Astaldi, Cimolai and EIE Group. Cimolai is known for its participation in the construction of the National Stadium in Warsaw.
The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), with a main mirror 39 metres in diameter, will be the largest optical/near-infrared telescope in the world upon its launch in 2024. Its light-collecting surface will be greater than the surfaces of all currently active scientific optical telescopes combined, and the adaptive optics system allow to obtain images 15 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope.
On the occasion of the signing of the contract and the telescope project presentation, ESO has also prepared visualizations showing the size of the E-ELT in relation to famous buildings in various countries. In the case of Poland, the telescope was compared with St. Mary\'s Church in Kraków.
The first stages of the construction of this giant instrument have already begun: the access road and levelling of the Cerro Armazones summit have already been completed. Work on the dome is expected to start in 2017.
ESO has already signed agreements for the construction of the first-light instruments for the E-ELT telescope, as well as the adaptive optics system. Contract for the telescope’s huge secondary mirror will be signed in the near future. Polish scientists and engineers, coordinated by Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń will participate in designing HIRES spectrograph for the E-ELT. Later they might also build its parts.
Telescope E-ELT will be co-owned Poland, because our country is a member of the ESO since last year. ESO is an organization of several European countries, which is engaged in the study of the universe from the Earth\'s surface. Its giant observatories are located in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
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