Astronomy & Space

It's possible to reach for the stars - thanks to SCHOTT Advanced Optics

Reaching for the stars

Every discovery starts with a cloudless night. To an astronomer, broadening horizons means reaching for the stars.

But if you’re spending your nights stargazing, you're happy for any help you can get. Only one thing’s better than a large telescope aperture: an even larger telescope aperture. Brown dwarves, red giants, black holes, perhaps even extraterrestrial lifeforms – what may have started as a school project today might quickly wind up as an entry in tomorrow’s history books.

This and no less is what the scientists at the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) are hoping for. The telescope, that SCHOTT is helping to build in Chile’s Atacama Desert, should be making those aliens nervous. Humanity’s largest-ever eye has great expectations to fulfil once it’s completed in 2024: no less than finding proof of life in space.