1 00:00:02,220 --> 00:00:04,240 This is the ESOcast! 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,860 Cutting-edge science and life behind the scenes of ESO, 3 00:00:07,860 --> 00:00:10,330 the European Southern Observatory, 4 00:00:10,500 --> 00:00:17,810 exploring the ultimate frontier with our host Dr J, a.k.a. Dr Joe Liske. 5 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,120 Hello and welcome to this special episode of the ESOcast. 6 00:00:23,500 --> 00:00:27,830 Leading up to ESO’s 50th anniversary in October 2012, 7 00:00:27,830 --> 00:00:30,560 we will showcase eight special features 8 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:35,620 portraying ESO’s first 50 years of exploring the southern sky. 9 00:00:39,660 --> 00:00:44,600 Building Big 10 00:00:49,910 --> 00:00:52,820 Astronomy is big science. 11 00:00:55,410 --> 00:00:57,170 It’s a vast Universe out there, 12 00:00:57,170 --> 00:01:01,610 and the exploration of the cosmos requires huge instruments. 13 00:01:06,350 --> 00:01:10,830 This is the 5-metre Hale reflector on Palomar Mountain. 14 00:01:10,830 --> 00:01:15,740 When the European Southern Observatory came into being, fifty years ago, 15 00:01:15,740 --> 00:01:19,190 it was the largest telescope in the world. 16 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:26,000 ESO’s Very Large Telescope at Cerro Paranal is the state of the art now. 17 00:01:26,500 --> 00:01:29,310 As the most powerful observatory in history, 18 00:01:29,310 --> 00:01:33,690 it has revealed the full splendour of the Universe in which we live. 19 00:01:36,330 --> 00:01:40,600 But astronomers have set their sights on even bigger instruments. 20 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,960 And ESO is realising their dreams. 21 00:01:58,310 --> 00:02:00,630 San Pedro de Atacama. 22 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,560 Tucked amidst breathtaking scenery and natural wonders, 23 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:10,080 this picturesque town is home to indigenous Atacameños 24 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:12,630 and adventurous backpackers alike. 25 00:02:14,890 --> 00:02:18,690 And ESO astronomers and technicians. 26 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,070 Not far from San Pedro, ESO’s first dream machine is taking shape. 27 00:02:28,070 --> 00:02:33,660 It’s called ALMA – the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. 28 00:02:34,740 --> 00:02:40,100 ALMA is a joint project of Europe, North America and East Asia. 29 00:02:40,100 --> 00:02:43,060 It operates like a giant zoom lens. 30 00:02:43,060 --> 00:02:48,340 Close together, the 66 antennas provide a wide-angle view. 31 00:02:48,340 --> 00:02:54,240 But spread apart, they reveal much finer detail over a smaller area of sky. 32 00:02:56,370 --> 00:03:01,060 At submillimetre wavelengths, ALMA sees the Universe in a different light. 33 00:03:01,060 --> 00:03:02,720 But what will it reveal? 34 00:03:04,260 --> 00:03:09,740 The birth of the very first galaxies in the Universe, in the wake of the Big Bang. 35 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,110 Cold and dusty clouds of molecular gas 36 00:03:15,110 --> 00:03:19,200 — the stellar nurseries where new suns and planets are born. 37 00:03:22,810 --> 00:03:25,370 And: the chemistry of the cosmos. 38 00:03:29,170 --> 00:03:34,160 ALMA will track down organic molecules — the building blocks of life. 39 00:03:38,260 --> 00:03:42,070 Construction of the ALMA antennas is in full swing. 40 00:03:43,020 --> 00:03:46,420 Two giant transporters, called Otto and Lore, 41 00:03:46,420 --> 00:03:50,590 take the completed antennas up to the Chajnantor Plateau. 42 00:03:56,790 --> 00:03:58,690 At 5000 metres above sea level, 43 00:03:58,690 --> 00:04:02,980 the array provides an unprecedented view of the microwave Universe. 44 00:04:10,090 --> 00:04:11,950 While ALMA is nearly completed, 45 00:04:11,950 --> 00:04:16,060 ESO’s next dream machine is still a few years away. 46 00:04:16,060 --> 00:04:18,130 See that mountain over there? 47 00:04:18,130 --> 00:04:20,769 That’s Cerro Armazones. 48 00:04:22,900 --> 00:04:24,260 Not far from Paranal, 49 00:04:24,260 --> 00:04:29,500 it will be home to the largest telescope in the history of mankind. 50 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,680 Meet the European Extremely Large Telescope. 51 00:04:35,110 --> 00:04:37,820 The world’s biggest eye on the sky. 52 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,730 Sporting a mirror almost forty metres across, 53 00:04:45,730 --> 00:04:51,260 the E-ELT simply dwarfs every telescope that preceded it. 54 00:04:53,290 --> 00:04:56,620 Almost eight hundred computer-controlled mirror segments. 55 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:02,510 Complex optics to provide the sharpest possible images. 56 00:05:04,990 --> 00:05:08,150 A dome as tall as a church steeple. 57 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:17,530 The E-ELT is an exercise in superlatives. 58 00:05:20,670 --> 00:05:25,170 But the real wonder, or course, is in the Universe out there. 59 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:35,100 The E-ELT will reveal planets orbiting other stars. 60 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:42,820 Its spectrographs will sniff the atmospheres of these alien worlds, 61 00:05:42,820 --> 00:05:45,120 looking for biosignatures. 62 00:05:48,910 --> 00:05:54,250 Further away, the E-ELT will study individual stars in other galaxies. 63 00:05:54,250 --> 00:05:59,080 It’s like meeting the inhabitants of neighbouring cities for the first time. 64 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,390 Working as a cosmic time machine, 65 00:06:02,390 --> 00:06:06,130 the giant telescope lets us look back billions of years, 66 00:06:06,130 --> 00:06:08,400 to learn how everything began. 67 00:06:12,270 --> 00:06:15,770 And it may solve the riddle of the accelerating Universe 68 00:06:15,770 --> 00:06:20,160 — the mysterious fact that galaxies are pushed away from each other 69 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,640 faster and faster. 70 00:06:34,550 --> 00:06:38,910 Astronomy is big science, and it’s a science of big mysteries. 71 00:06:38,910 --> 00:06:40,500 Is there life beyond Earth? 72 00:06:40,500 --> 00:06:42,760 What's the origin of the Universe? 73 00:06:43,890 --> 00:06:48,980 ESO’s new monster telescope will help in our quest to understand. 74 00:06:48,980 --> 00:06:53,000 We’re not there yet, but it won’t take long. 75 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:54,310 So what’s next? 76 00:06:54,310 --> 00:06:55,910 Well, no one knows. 77 00:06:55,910 --> 00:06:58,970 But ESO is ready for the adventure. 78 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:34,970 This is Dr J, signing off from this special episode of the ESOcast. 79 00:07:34,970 --> 00:07:38,300 Join me again next time for another cosmic adventure. 80 00:07:40,730 --> 00:07:42,000 ESOcast is produced by ESO, 81 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,000 the European Southern Observatory. 82 00:07:44,910 --> 00:07:46,000 ESO, the European Southern Observatory, 83 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:48,000 is the pre-eminent intergovernmental science and technology organisation in astronomy. 84 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:50,000 Among both ground- and space-based observatories, ESO is the most productive observatory in the world. 85 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:58,490 Transcription by ESO; translation by —