EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: 10 a.m. Friday, May 12

SHORT FILM: “Extremely Large Telescope: The world’s biggest eye on the sky”

Join the University of Michigan Department of Astronomy participation in a livestream event highlighting the discoveries that will be made with the 39-meter Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). The telescope is being developed by the European Southern Observatory.

The U-M Department of Astronomy is part of an international consortium building METIS, the Mid-infrared ELT Imager and Spectrograph. METIS is one of the first instruments under construction for use on the ELT when it becomes operational in 2028. It will observe star and planet formation, mature rocky planets around our nearest stellar neighbors, star-forming galaxies, obscured regions of energetic activity driven by supermassive black holes, the hidden center of the Milky Way, and much more.

U-M astronomers are also partners in building the HARMONI, MOSAIC and ANDES instruments for the Extremely Large Telescope.

The event will first highlight the ELT, and then METIS. Following the premiere of a short film, viewers can ask questions during a livestreaming Facebook event.

PLACE: Stream online at YouTube. Ask questions during the Facebook event, or using the #askESO hashtag on Twitter.

SPONSOR: European Southern Observatory