Record mirror for Euro telescope (BBC) {42m reflector planned}

[eppur_se_muova]

By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News, Cerro Paranal, Chile

European astronomers are planning to build an optical telescope that is four times bigger than any in existence.

With a main mirror around 42m-wide, the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will allow remote objects to be studied in greater detail than ever before.

The powerful observatory will allow astronomers to see some of the first galaxies to form in the Universe.
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The European Southern Observatory (Eso) operates the 8.2m Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Cerro Paranal in Chile, which has been described as a "discovery machine".

An average of 1.5 scientific papers published each day is based on observations carried out at the VLT.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5252228.stm