The European Southern Observatory (ESO) presented a magnificent image that captures a scattering of stars and a hazy stripe of the Milky Way.
The image was taken from the construction site of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which is set to become the world's largest optical telescope.
The complex will be located at the top of Cerro Armazones in northern Chile. A complex five-mirror optical system has been developed for the telescope, which has no analogues. In this case, the diameter of the main mirror will be 39 meters: it will consist of 798 hexagonal segments measuring 1,4 meters.
The system will study the sky in the optical and near-infrared wavelength ranges in search of new exoplanets, in particular, Earth-like ones orbiting other stars.
This image was taken as part of ESO's Space Treasures programme, an outreach initiative to photograph interesting, mysterious or simply beautiful objects using ESO telescopes for educational and public outreach purposes.
To see the Milky Way in such detail, you need to be in a place with low light pollution. These are the conditions found on Mount Cerro Armazones.
Source: 3dnews.ru