The Search For Aliens Is About To Get More Intense
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The question of whether there is any form of life on other planets in our Universe has been plaguing humans for centuries - Now, the search is about to get even more intense, thanks to an ultra-large, uber-sophisticated telescope, innovatively dubbed - European Extremely Large Telescope or E-ELT!
Commissioned by the European Southern Observatory, a consortium of 15 European countries and Brazil, the telescope, which is expected to cost over $1.5 billion, is scheduled to be ready by 2020. While construction will not begin for at least a couple of years, scientists all over the world are currently vying for a chance to develop the sophisticated instruments that will be housed inside the dome-shaped structure, which amongst other things will feature a 40-meter (131 ft.) mirror put together from over 1,000 individual hexagonal segments.
The 'World's Biggest Eye On The Sky' will be built atop the 3,060 meters (10,000 ft.) high Cerro Amazones mountains that lie in the middle of Chile's Atacama Desert. The area, which also houses other powerful telescopes like the Paranal Observatory and the Atacama Large Military Array, is believed to be the ideal location for astronomical research because of its dry and arid climate.
When ready, the E-ELT will be ten times more sensitive to normal and infrared light than the Very Large Telescope that is currently in the Paranal Observatory — powerful enough to not only spot aliens but also, glean inside some of the oldest galaxies and help unlock secrets about how the Universe evolved to its current state.
Whether the 'World's Biggest Eye On The Sky' will be able to locate extraterrestrials is debatable — But, with the capability of taking pictures that are 15 times sharper than the Hubble Telescope, we are sure going to be the recipients of some amazing images of our Universe - So stay tuned!
Resources: Guardian.co.uk, esciencenews.com
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285 Comments
- Andyabout 13 yearsI wish Europe luck with the telescope! I hope nothing bad happens. If something goes wrong though Europe would lose a lot of money! Peace Out, Andy
- NINJA MONKEYabout 13 yearsThats AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- SiK Pr3dat0r A.K.A Nicholasabout 13 yearsI think this article was very interesting. I am guessing that they are not going to find anything because i believe that aliens and no other creatures besides animals and humans live, through out all the universe. So I am concluding that they will not find anything but still and interesting article to read and to comment about. :)
- 3donkeylation A.K.A Arthurabout 13 yearsThus the fact that that there might be other life forms in the universe... Remember...NEVER ENDING!!!!
- Sik OwnAg3 a.k.a Andyabout 13 yearsI wish Europe there best to finding and/or discovering new and kool things... One really kool thing would be if skools could field trip there for a Science field trip. Wish Europe luck! Peace out, Sik OwnAg3 a.k.a Andy
- 3donkeylation A.K.A Arthurabout 13 yearsVery good article!
- Bre Babout 13 yearsThis is very interesting because they are creating a special telescope that can only spot aliens. It will only be ready in the year of 2020. I wonder if its even going to work? All that money will go to waste:(. If they do discover aliens, what will they be like? The telescope is a great invention. This artical is very detailed and interesting.
jellybelly77about 13 yearsthis is really cooooooooooooool!- robert g cool guyabout 13 yearsCool article. I think the telescope is going to be in a good place on safty reasons.
- Sik Owng3 a.k.a Andyabout 13 yearshey guys this article is so kool. I hope Europe doesnt lose all that money and go broke cause that would be horrible. The koolest part about the telescope is how we might be able to search and possibly find aliens. If skool's in Europe get to visit the dome to look at planets and stars. If something bad ever happens to the telescope i hope they can get warranty or something like that on it just in case!!! Peace out. Sik OwnAg3 a.k.a Andy