History
On 26 April 2010, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Council selected Cerro Armazones, Chile, as the baseline site for the planned E-ELT. Other sites that were under discussion included Cerro Macon, Salta, in Argentina; Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, on the Canary Islands; and sites in South Africa, Morocco, and Antarctica.
Early designs included a filled single aperture mirror with a diameter of 42 metres and area of about 1,300 m2, with a secondary mirror with a diameter of 5.9 m. However, in 2011 a proposal was put forward to reduce its size by 13% to 978 m2, for a 39.3 m diameter primary mirror and a 4.2 m diameter secondary mirror. It reduced projected costs from 1.275 billion to 1.055 billion euros and should allow the telescope to be finished sooner.
ESO's Director General commented in a 2011 press release that "With the new E-ELT design we can still satisfy the bold science goals and also ensure that the construction can be completed in only 10-11 years." The ESO Council endorsed the revised baseline design in June 2011 and expected a construction proposal for approval in December 2011. Funding was subsequently included in the 2012 budget for initial work to begin in early 2012. The project received preliminary approval in June 2012, with some funding details still needing to be worked out.
The E-ELT will complete its detailed-design phase by the end of 2011 and its construction is planned for 2012. The design phase of the 5-mirror anastigmat is fully funded within the ESO budget. With the recent changes in the baseline design (such as a reduction in the size of the primary mirror from 42m to 39.3m), the construction cost is estimated to be €1.055 Billion (including first generation instruments). The start of operations is planned for the early 2020s.
Read more about this topic: European Extremely Large Telescope
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