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Ireland to Join the European Southern Observatory

DIAS welcomes the wonderful news that Ireland will join the European Southern Observatory (ESO). It means Irish astronomers will now have access to world-class observing facilities and Irish companies will be involved in building the biggest telescope on the Planet (shown below), the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). ESO membership has been a major objective of DIAS for many years. We look forward not only to pushing the boundaries of the known Universe with our ESO partners but also building the cutting-edge instruments that make such research possible.

Further reaction and information can be had from the Astronomical Science Group of Ireland (ASGI) website.

The E-ELT will the biggest telescope in the World when completed. Situated high in the Andes in Chile, it will probe the early history of the Universe, discover how stars and planets form, examine the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, and a myriad of other puzzles in Astrophysics. Image courtesy of ESO.