The top of a 10,000-foot mountain in northern Chile's Atacama Desert was blown up to make room for the European Extremely Large Telescope, or E-ELT.
The telescope's main mirror will measure almost 130 feet, making it the largest near-infrared/optical telescope in the world, according to the European Space Agency (ESO).
"Since the end of 2005 ESO has been working together with its user community of European astronomers and astrophysicists to define the new giant telescope needed by the middle of the next decade," said the ESO, according to a company release. "More than 100 astronomers from all European countries have been involved throughout 2006, helping the ESO Project Offices to produce a novel concept, in which performance, cost, schedule and risk were carefully evaluated."
Officials have called the telescope the "world's biggest eye on the sky."
The telescope will be used to "tackle some of the biggest scientific challenges of our time," ESO said in a statement, according to the release.
They plan on doing this by letting "detailed studies of subjects including planets around other stars, the first objects in the Universe, super-massive black holes, and the nature and distribution of the dark matter and dark energy which dominate the Universe."
The first use of the telescope will take place sometime in the early 2020s.
Video of the event has been posted on a number of sites as well.
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