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132275 author: esoastronomy@astrodon.social 17 Dec 12:05
tags: #Astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #chile #fediverse #introduction #science #space

#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

📷 ESO/G. Vecchia

The giant metal frame of a dome takes up most of the picture frame, contrasting with the brown hills and a thin horizontal line of blue sky in the background. The dome's frame is not yet fully covered in the middle, so the dark brown landscape behind it shows. The big opening in the dome's roof shows the interior, still a construction site with a structure of white beams. In front of the big building is one red crane, taller than the dome.