[mmaimcal] ELT to Chile

[Alwyn Wootten]

From: ESO education and Public Outreach Department <information at eso.org>
Date: March 4, 2010 9:27:09 AM GMT-03:00
To: esonews at eso.org
Subject: ESO announcement ann1013: E-ELT Site Selection Advisory
Committee Recommends Cerro Armazones in Chile

For your information, the following announcement has been posted on the
ESO website:

E-ELT Site Selection Advisory Committee Recommends Cerro Armazones in
Chile

ESO Council delegates met in Committee on 2–3 March 2010 and discussed
the process for adoption of a baseline reference site for the European
Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). This will enable the successful
conclusion of the detailed design of the telescope with the goal of
preparing a proposal for construction in due course.

ESO Council received a report with the main conclusions from the E-ELT
Site Selection Advisory Committee. These conclusions confirm that all
sites examined in the final short list (Armazones, Ventarrones,
Tolonchar and Vizcachas in Chile, and La Palma in Spain) have very good
conditions for astronomical observing, each one with its particular
strengths. The technical report concludes that Cerro Armazones, near
Paranal, stands out as the clearly preferred site, because it has the
best balance of sky quality across all aspects and it can be operated in
an integrated fashion with the existing ESO Paranal Observatory.

The ESO Council was also informed of the proposals from Chile and from
Spain to host the E-ELT. Council is extremely thankful to the
Governments of both countries for their generous and helpful offers.

Council will convene again soon to make a decision on the E-ELT baseline
site, taking into account the recommendations of the Site Selection
Advisory Committee and all other relevant aspects.

Read more in ESO announcement 1013:
http://www.eso.org/public/events/announcements/ann1013/index.html

Regards,

The ESO education and Public Outreach Department
04 March 2010
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