"Imagining, Designing, Launching, and Following the Construction of the ELT"
Astronomy for Non-Astronomers
- Date: Jun 18, 2026
- Time: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Jason Spyromilio (ESO, Astronomer)
- Location: ESO Garching
- Room: Auditorium Eridanus
The Astronomy for Non-Astronomers seminar series offers accessible insights into astronomy and related scientific topics, making current concepts, methods, and questions understandable beyond specialist audiences.
The talk will follow the birth of the ELT project at ESO and present the early days, the evolution of the science, the design and the rationale behind some of the choices made for the telescope and instrumentation. We shall connect to the days of Overwhelmingly Large Telescopes and recall stories of 20, 25 and 50-m telescopes. We shall visit observing sites and talk about how we went from 42 meters to 42 yards.
This will be a personal take on the story, that pretty much everyone at ESO is living right now.
Everyone at ESO, but especially non-astronomers, is invited. Guests are, as usual, welcome.