Chile's ELT: The world's biggest telescope aims to unveil alien life

The European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is being built atop Cerro Armazones in Chile’s Atacama Desert to become the world’s largest optical/infrared telescope, featuring a 39-meter segmented mirror inside an 80-meter dome. Slated to be completed by 2027 and operational by 2030, it will greatly improve resolution and light-collection, enabling detailed studies of distant galaxies, precise measurements of smaller exoplanets, atmospheric signatures that could hint at life, and potentially the first strong evidence of life beyond Earth, though experts caution about what would count as proof.