ESO, Chilean Government Signs E-ELT Agreement

The Director General of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), Tim de Zeeuw, and the Alfredo Moreno, the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs, signed a new agreement yesterday, October 13, in Santiago, Chile, regarding the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).

This installation will be the largest, most ambitious project ever undertaken by ESO. Following a rigorous selection process, the telescope's construction site was confirmed to be Cerro Amazones, in Chile, a short distance away from the Paranal Observatory at Cerro Paranal.

The newly-signed agreement provides terms for the donation of a large swath of land to house the telescope, plus adjacent surfaces to limit access and create a protection zone around it. The Chilean government has been kind enough to donate the land the massive observatory will use.

In total, the E-ELT Project surface will cover 1,270 square kilometers (490.3 square miles). The visible-light/near-infrared telescope will have a light collecting area of 978 square meters (10,527 square feet), and a diameter of 39.3 meters (130 feet).