The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is building the imaginatively named Extremely Large Telescope at Cerro Armazones, a mountain at an altitude of 3,046 metres in the central part of Chile’s Atacama Desert.   The main image shows the telescope structure to the same scale as Cork City Hall.  Whilst the bulk of the structure is now nearing completion, the next steps also present significant challenges, both for the telescope optics and its unique instruments.  In this talk UCC’s Prof Paul Callanan (small image) will discuss the current state and future promise of the ELT, and ESO’s plans for the next great astronomical observatory in the 2040’s.

Paul was instrumental in persuading the Irish government to become part of the European Southern Observatory.  He is an honorary member of Cork Astronomy Club.