See ESO's under-construction ELT telescope in this unique spherical picture

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) today shared a new picture that shows the foundations of its Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), the world's biggest eye on the sky. The picture was taken in January 2022.

Currently, under construction at the top of Cerro Armazones in the Chilean Atacama Desert, the ground-based observatory is expected to begin scientific operations in 2027. Once completed, it will be the largest optical telescope in the world, collecting more light than all of the existing 8-10 metre class telescopes on the planet combined, ESO claims.

Sharing the picture, ESA stated that it was constructed using stereographic projection, in which a panorama image is projected onto a single plane. The wraparound shot shows the first hints of the telescope's large spherical dome, which will house a huge 39-metre main mirror (M1).

M1 is composed of 798 hexagonal segments and will be controlled in real-time by a system of high precision sensors to keep them perfectly aligned. Another mirror, M4, will deform up to 1000 times per second to correct the effects of atmospheric turbulence.

Is that Tatooine with the Millenium Falcon I see? No, in fact this Picture of the Week shows the foundations of the world's #BiggestEyeOnTheSky: our #ELT! More details & interactive panorama: 🔗 https://t.co/INQfcA6JjgCredit: G. Hüdepohl/ @ESO pic.twitter.com/qeTinMSEni

— ESO (@ESO) April 11, 2022

Once in operation, ESO's ELT will tackle the biggest astronomical challenges of our time and will aim for a number of notable firsts, including tracking down Earth-like planets around other stars in the habitable zones where life could exist.

All five mirrors of the telescope - M1, M2, M3, M4 and M5 - have different shapes, sizes and roles but will work together seamlessly to deliver observations with more clarity than ever before.

ELT's adaptive-optics system will deliver images sharper than those taken by current and future telescopes in space, like the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the powerful James Webb Space Telescope.