The Extremely Large Telescope: Construction Status

Elise Vernet – ESO

The ELT (Extremely Large Telescope is the 39-meter European Telescope currently under construction in the north of Chile at Amazones. The project, led by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is deeply involving European and Chilean industries for the design and manufacturing of all the sub-systems, the erection of the telescope and the installation of the infrastructure on site. The instruments development is made European institutes in collaboration with ESO.

Today, most of the telescope subsystems are in manufacturing phase and several are already delivered on site. During this talk I will present the project and its current status, the manufacturing, integration and the verification of the various sub-systems including the structural parts of the telescope, dome, the mirrors manufacturing and their support as well as the various alignment and measurement systems foreseen. I will conclude with a quick overview of the instrument suite developed by the European institutes in collaboration with ESO.