The European Southern Observatory (ESO) press release 25-06 is reproduced below:

18 July 2006
For Immediate Release

Towards a European Extremely Large Telescope

ESO sets-up ELT Project Office

ESO, the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, is taking an important step towards the realisation of a new, giant telescope for Europe's astronomers, by creating the ESO Extremely Large Telescope Project Office. It will be headed by Jason Spyromilio, formerly La Silla Paranal Observatory Director.

"We believe that the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is essential if we are to ensure the continued competitiveness of the astronomical community in ESO's member-states. This goal can be achieved in a timely manner through ESO and the community working closely together, and the establishment of the ELT project office is a significant step in this direction", says Catherine Cesarsky, ESO's Director General.

"In its December 2004 Resolution, ESO's Council requested ESO to launch the construction of an ELT on a competitive timescale", says Jason Spyromilio. "The creation of the ELT Project Office is thus the logical step, following on the large amount of preparatory work on ELTs carried out in Europe, for instance in the framework of the OWL Conceptual Study [1], the EU co-funded ELT Design Study project [2] and more recently by the five ELT thematic working groups established by the Director General."

The ESO ELT Project Office, which is part of the ESO Telescope Systems Division (TSD), will work closely together with experts, from both ESO and the European scientific community, represented in the ELT Science and Engineering Working Group and in a Standing Review Committee established by the ESO Council.

"ESO aims to put the European Extremely Large Telescope on a 'fast-track', within a wide collaboration with its community and with the direct involvement of industry", says Roberto Gilmozzi, head of the ESO TSD and E-ELT Principal Investigator.

A baseline design is to be presented to the ESO Council at the end of 2006. The plan is a telescope with a primary mirror between 30 and 60 metres in diameter and a financial envelope of about 750 m Euros. It aims at more than a factor ten improvement in overall performance compared to the current leader in ground based astronomy: the ESO Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory.

The draft Baseline Reference Design will be presented to the wider scientific community on 29 - 30 November 2006 at a dedicated ELT Workshop Meeting in Marseille (France) and will be further reiterated. The goal is to start the detailed E-ELT design work by the first half of 2007.

Notes

[1]: The OWL Conceptual Study for a 100-m telescope was initiated to explore totally new avenues for telescope construction. The study involved industry and the scientific community in the sense that it prompted the parallel effort - within OPTICON - to develop the ELT science case and also in early discussions regarding ELT instrumentation. The study was concluded by the end of 2005 with a review carried out by an international review panel, paving the way for the next step towards a European ELT. Other ELT studies include the so-called Euro-50 as well as studies mainly in the US.

[2]: The ELT Design Study is a technology development programme conducted by institutes and companies in Europe, Israel and Australia, coordinated by ESO. It is funded in part - about one third - by the European Commission under its Framework Programme 6, the rest being provided by the participating institutions themselves.

Source: ESO Press Release pr-25-06

Since it is to be land based, I wonder what nation they will place it in.

Is it just me or does the name - European Extremely Large Telescope sound like something Homer Simpson would come up with?

Could they not find something more technical

Euroscope+ ????

Given that will be a telescope, that it will be extremely large and that it is a European project it's seems to me they have give it the most technically correct name possible.

Having said that I fail to see why it's name is relevant, they could call it Engleburt but it wouldn't make it work any better.

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) press release 46-06 is reproduced below:

ESO 46/06 - Organisation News

11 December 2006
For Immediate Release

The Rise of a Giant

ESO Council Gives Green Light to Detailed Study of the European Extremely Large Telescope

European astronomy has received a tremendous boost with the decision from ESO's governing body to proceed with detailed studies for the European Extremely Large Telescope. This study, with a budget of 57 million euro, will make it possible to start, in three years time, the construction of an optical/infrared telescope with a diameter around 40m that will revolutionise ground-based astronomy. The chosen design is based on a revolutionary concept specially developed for a telescope of this size.

"The decision by the ESO Council to go ahead with the design study for an European Extremely Large Telescope is a very exciting one for European astronomy,", said Richard Wade, President of the ESO Council.

"Today is a great day because the ESO Council has authorised us to go forward with the final design of the next flagship telescope of ESO,", says Catherine Cesarsky, ESO's Director General.

Birds eye view of the elaborate 3-dimensional model of the European Extremely Large Telescope developed to determine expected performance during observing conditions. With a 42-m diameter primary mirror, the present baseline, its total rotating mass is 5500 tons. The two platforms on each side of the structure hold large instruments. The telescope features a novel, innovative design, based on 5 mirrors. The primary 42-m mirror is composed of 906 segments, each 1.45 m wide, while the secondary mirror is as large as 6 m in diameter. A tertiary mirror, 4.2 m in diameter, relays the light to the adaptive optics system, composed of two mirrors: a 2.5-m mirror supported by 5000 or more actuators so as to be able to distort its own shape a thousand times per second, and one 2.7 m in diameter that allows for the final image corrections. This five mirror approach results in an exceptional image quality, with no significant aberrations in the field of view.

Since the end of last year, ESO has been working together with its user community of European astronomers and astrophysicists to define the new giant telescope needed by the middle of the next decade [1]. More than one hundred astronomers from all European countries have been involved throughout 2006, helping the ESO Project Offices to produce a novel concept, in which performance, cost, schedule and risk were carefully evaluated.

This fast pace has also been possible thanks to early conceptual studies in Europe (such as the ESO OWL and the EURO-50 studies) and research and development done in collaboration with a large number of European institutes and high-tech industries to develop critical enabling technologies within the framework of the EU FP6 programme and with significant contributions from all partners.

Provisionally dubbed E-ELT for the European Extremely Large Telescope, ESO's innovative concept was presented in detail two weeks ago to more than 250 European astronomers at a conference in Marseille. Their enthusiastic welcome paved the way for the decision by the ESO Council to move to the crucial next phase: detailed design of the full facility.

"At the end of the three year Final Design Study, we will know exactly how everything is going to be built including a detailed costing," said Cesarsky. "We then hope to start construction and have it ready by 2017, when we can install instruments and use it!"

The present concept, estimated to cost around 800 million euro, features as a baseline a telescope with a 42-m diameter mirror, and is revolutionary.

"A telescope of this size could not be built without a complete rethinking of the way we make telescopes," said Catherine Cesarsky.

The primary 42-m diameter mirror is composed of 906 hexagonal segments, each 1.45 m in size, while the secondary mirror is as large as 6 m in diameter. In order to overcome the fuzziness of stellar images due to atmospheric turbulence the telescope needs to incorporate adaptive mirrors into its optics [2]. A tertiary mirror, 4.2 m in diameter, relays the light to the adaptive optics system, composed of two mirrors: a 2.5-m mirror supported by 5000 or more actuators able to distort its own shape a thousand times per second, and one 2.7 m in diameter that allows for the final image corrections. This five mirror approach results in an exceptional image quality, with no significant aberrations in the field of view.

The site of the E-ELT is not yet fixed as studies are still undergoing with a plan to make a decision by 2008.

Extremely Large Telescopes are considered worldwide as one of the highest priorities in ground-based astronomy. They will vastly advance astrophysical knowledge, allowing detailed studies of subjects including planets around other stars, the first objects in the Universe, super-massive black holes, and the nature and distribution of the dark matter and dark energy which dominate the Universe.

With a diameter of 42 m and its adaptive optics concept, the E-ELT will be more than one hundred times more sensitive than the present-day largest optical telescopes, such as the 10-m Keck telescopes or the 8.2-m VLT telescopes.

"This is really the beginning of a new era for optical and infrared astronomy," said Catherine Cesarsky.

More information
The ESO Council represents 11 European countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom; while Spain is expected to become a full member before the end of this year), accounting for most of the astronomical investment capabilities of Europe. Designing, producing, installing and continuously upgrading such a facility is a huge undertaking over many decades. The European ELT basic reference design presented end November in Marseille for community feedback has been conducted within a close partnership with both national agencies and their scientific institutes and high-tech industrial firms. In that way, ESO has largely tapped present European knowledge and capability in all key areas: science priorities, adaptive optics & instrumentation, telescope design and site evaluation. The large Research and Development efforts conducted in the last few years within our community, in particular the FP6 Opticon and ELT Design Study programs, are essential for this endeavour. The European Extremely Large Telescope project will maintain and reinforce Europe's position at the forefront of astrophysical research, gained in large part at the turn of the century through the ESO Very Large Telescope facility.


Notes

[1]: The current generation of 4 to 10-m telescopes have provided astronomers with an incredible wealth of knowledge about our Universe, with the discovery of hundreds of extra-solar systems - some of which have quite amazing properties - and the study of galaxies located extremely far away, whose light comes almost from the very first epoch in the Universe when stars and galaxies started to form. Even more breathtaking is the recent evidence that nearly all the content of our Universe is made of dark matter, whose nature is as yet unknown, and dark energy, the very existence of which is presently not understood. These discoveries pose many new questions that future generation of ELTs should be able to answer. The combination of unprecedented acuity and light gathering power will provide unique images of objects at all scales, from those in our own solar system and exoplanetary systems to the very first points of light in our Universe. Moreover, detailed spectral analysis will reveal invaluable information on their nature, motions and characteristics.

[2]: Post-focal Adaptive Optics (AO), i.e. built into the instruments and not in the telescope design itself, is now a mature technology with seven AO systems and a laser guide star in operation at Paranal. Embedding AO into the telescope as a baseline option is the natural evolutionary step in telescope design.

Source: ESO Press Release pr-46-06

The California Institute of Technology press release is reproduced below:

August 20 2007

PASADENA, Calif.-The California Institute of Technology and the Regents of the University of California have each received $7.5 million in additional funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for the development of the Thirty-Meter Telescope. The TMT is being developed by a U.S.-Canadian team with construction anticipated to begin in April 2009. The new grants augment the $64 million already planned for the design development phase of the TMT project, which included $35 million previously awarded to Caltech and UC by the Moore Foundation.

With the TMT, astronomers will be able to analyze the light from the first stars born after the Big Bang, directly observe the formation and evolution of galaxies, see planets around nearby stars, and make observations that test fundamental laws of physics.

"This new award from the Moore Foundation will enable us to reach construction readiness, and will also initiate industrial production capabilities for the primary segments of the telescope," says Project Manager Gary Sanders.

The TMT is now at the stage of detailed design. When completed it will be the world's largest telescope. It consists of a primary mirror with 492 individual 1.45-meter segments that span 30 meters in total, three times the effective diameter of the current largest telescopes. All of the segments will be under precision computer control so that they work together as a single mirror.

The TMT will not only be the largest optical telescope in the world, but will also be at the forefront of technology in virtually every aspect of its design. Adaptive optics (AO) will allow the TMT to achieve a resolution comparable to a space telescope. Because TMT project engineers are integrating this system with the designs for eight science instruments, the power of the AO system should be available at the beginning of the telescope's operations in 2016.

The baseline AO system for the TMT involves six laser beams launched from a small telescope from the top of the structure that supports the telescope's secondary mirror. These laser beams create a luminous spot in a layer of sodium atoms high in Earth's upper atmosphere, providing artificial points of light analogous to distant stars. These pointlike laser illuminated spots drift and wobble just like starlight, giving the AO system reference points to use anywhere in the sky as it compensates for distortions of starlight by Earth's fluctuating atmosphere. This technology has been pioneered at the Lick Observatory, and by the Gemini Observatory 8-meter telescopes, and the Keck Observatory 10-meter telescopes.

Much of the TMT's scientific work will be done in the infrared, where the best resolution is easier to attain, young stars and galaxies are to be found, and the opportunities for new discoveries are abundant. The TMT project is studying five high sites in Chile, Hawaii, and Mexico as possible locations for the telescope, with site selection planned for May 2008.

Three reviews by an independent panel evaluated all aspects of the project, including its optical design, the telescope structure and its enclosure, science instrumentation, site testing, management, and cost estimate procedures. The panel reached positive conclusions about the level of design development and the prospect for construction readiness by April 2009.

The TMT is a collaboration of the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc., and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA), with significant work being done by industry and by university teams studying instrument designs. The project office is in Pasadena, California. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, established in 2000, seeks to advance environmental conservation and cutting-edge scientific research around the world and improve the quality of life in the San Francisco Bay Area. The foundation has committed $300 million in potential grants over 10 years to the California Institute of Technology to support the institution in maintaining its position at the forefront of higher science and technology education and research. For more information, visit http://www.moore.org.

For more information on the project, see http://www.tmt.org

### CONTACTS:

Jill Perry California Institute of Technology Phone: (626) 395-3226 E-mail: jperry@caltech.edu

Tim Stephens University of California, Santa Cruz Phone: (831) 459-4352 Email: stephens@ucsc.edu

Ray Carlberg University of Toronto/ACURA Phone: (416) 978-2198 Email: raymond.carlberg@utoronto.ca

Greg Nelson The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Phone: (415) 561-7427 Email: greg.nelson@moore.org

Source: CalTech Press Release

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) Consortium officially announces the selection of Las Campanas, Chile, as the location of the Giant Magellan Telescope. This location was selected for its high altitude, dry climate, dark skies, and unsurpassed seeing quality, as well as its access to the southern skies.



Washington, DC. The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) Consortium announces that the GMT will be constructed at Cerro Las Campanas, Chile. This location was selected for its high altitude, dry climate, dark skies, and unsurpassed seeing quality, as well as its access to the southern skies.

“This decision represents a critical step towards realizing our goal of building the premier next -generation astronomical observatory,” said Dr. Wendy Freedman, leader of the GMT Board and director of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution, which operates Las Campanas.

“The Giant Magellan Telescope represents the dawn of a new age of astronomical exploration,” stated Dr. Charles Alcock, director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “As telescopes get larger, we are able to see fainter, farther, and with more clarity than ever before. We can only predict a fraction of the scientific discoveries that will be made using this enormous telescope and the new insights into the universe that we will gain.”

The Las Campanas Observatory is home to the twin Magellan Telescopes, the predecessors of the new instrument. “The GMT builds on the partners’ collective experience in constructing and operating world-class telescopes. Locating the telescope at a proven world-class, mountain-top site in Chile will maximize its productivity and cost effectiveness,” said Prof. Nicholas Suntzeff, head of the astronomy program at Texas A&M University. “Excellent science has come from Las Campanas for several decades; the superb astronomical quality of the site is a significant contributor to this success,” Freedman said.

Scheduled for completion in 2016, the Giant Magellan Telescope will be the first of a new generation of ground-based telescopes. Its large size will offer exceptional resolving power, producing images up to 10 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope. The GMT will be composed of seven 8.4-meter (27.5-foot) primary mirrors, six of which will be off-axis encircling the seventh to produce a telescope with an effective aperture of 24.5 meters (80 feet).

The first GMT mirror was cast from molten glass in July 2005 and is currently being polished at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory Mirror Laboratory. When completed in early 2009, the final surface will be smooth to an accuracy of 1 millionth of an inch and will follow the precise optical prescription needed to produce the best images theoretically possible.

The Giant Magellan Telescope will help answer a number of compelling scientific questions faced by astronomers today. It will open new avenues of scientific exploration, including:

• Understanding the origin and evolution of planetary systems beyond our own;
• Witnessing the formation of stars, galaxies and black holes;
• Exploring the properties of dark matter and dark energy in the cosmos.

Detailed information about the design of the GMT and the science that it will perform is located at www.gmto.org

Tina McDowell
Carnegie Institution
1530 P St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20005
202-939-1120
www.CarnegieInstitution.org

Source: GMT Consortium - News