Builders have set to the construction of the world's largest optical telescope, which will be located in a desert in Northern Chile, Rambler News reports on Monday.
The funds to finance the construction activities are allocated by European Southern Observatory (ESO), an intergovernmental astronomical organization in Europe.
The telescope named the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will be situated at an altitude of 3,000 meters above sea level, in the heart of the Atacama desert. A diameter of the main mirror will amount to 39 meters.
Earlier, ESO stated that the construction project is estimated at about 1 billion euros in the prices of year 2012. It is expected that the telescope will start operating in 2024.
