Extremely Large Telescope (ELT)
The modern device, created by scientists at Oxford University, has passed critical tests and received a powerful system of adaptive optics. HARMONI project engineers and researchers (one of the first instruments for the Extremely Large Telescope) celebrate the successful completion of a preliminary design review. Now the tool can be transferred to the stage of further design to begin the review of amazing astronomical objects in the mid-2020s.
HARMONI is a monolithic optical and near infrared spectrograph with high angular resolution. It will make the telescope of the European Southern Observatory hundreds of times more sensitive than other telescopes. A spectrograph observes an astronomical target at 4,000 wavelengths simultaneously. This allows you to significantly expand your search, ranging from planets around neighboring stars and ending with the very first galaxies and stars in the Universe. Extremely Large Telescope will be located at an altitude of 3000 m above sea level in the Atacama Desert (north of Chile) and will become the largest optical telescope with a giant main mirror (diameter - 39 m). This is one of the first massive astronomical instruments in the new class with parameters: height — 8 m, length — 10 m, width — 6 m, and weight — 40 tons.
HARMONI is an example of one of the world's largest scientific communities, including a contribution from the UK worth 88 million pounds sterling.
