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Talk about starting your astronomy work with a bang! Yesterday's controlled explosion on the top of Cerro Armazones marked the start of construction preparation for the European Extremely Large Telescope, a 39-meter (128-foot) device intended to teach us more about exoplanets and the universe's history.
Luckily for those of us who couldn't make it to Chile, the European Southern Observatory gave us some pictures and video of the explosion in action. These in fact are taken from just a few hundred meters away, much closer than delegates got yesterday during the groundbreaking ceremonies. Watch the videos below.
First light on E-ELT isn't expected for another decade, but there will be lots more work to look forward to in the coming weeks, months and years. More explosions will continue to remove the top of the mountain and make it level for the telescope, and the design of the large telescope will be finalized.
Also, here's some weekend reading for you, too: ESO's 264-page construction proposal document for E-ELT. Also check out our previous stories on the explosion here and here.
Elizabeth Howell is the senior writer at Universe Today. She also works for Space.com, Space Exploration Network, the NASA Lunar Science Institute, NASA Astrobiology Magazine and LiveScience, among others. Career highlights include watching three shuttle launches, and going on a two-week simulated Mars expedition in rural Utah. You can follow her on Twitter @howellspace or contact her at her website.
Tagged as: Cerro Armazones, E-ELT
Entities 0 Name: Cerro Armazones Count: 2 1 Name: European Extremely Large Telescope Count: 1 2 Name: Utah Count: 1 3 Name: Elizabeth Howell Count: 1 4 Name: NASA Lunar Science Institute Count: 1 5 Name: ESO Count: 1 6 Name: NASA Astrobiology Magazine Count: 1 7 Name: Chile Count: 1 8 Name: Universe Today Count: 1 9 Name: European Southern Observatory Count: 1 10 Name: Space.com Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1lJVDjH Title: Watch: Blowing Up a Mountain to Make Way for World's Biggest Telescope Description: The best thing about the future of astronomy is that it starts with a bang. Today, you can watch as the European Southern Observatory takes the first step in building the world's biggest ground-based telescope-the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT)-by blowing up the top of a mountain in Chile.
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