Testing the ELT Laser Guide Star

The Laser Guide Star for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is captured during testing at the the Teide Observatory in Tenerife, Spain, in this spectacular long exposure photograph. The 1.5-metre TCS infrared telescope can also be seen to the right of the image, with the island of Gran Canaria visible towards the left.

The ELT will be the largest optical/infrared telescope in the world — the world's biggest eye on the sky. This laser will form part of a sophisticated adaptive optics system that will correct for turbulence in the atmosphere, allowing the 40-metre-class telescope to capture much sharper images and tackle some of the biggest scientific challenges of our time.

Operations are planned to start early in the next decade.