Constructing the largest telescope in the World, bigger than the Colosseum and high up in the Andes Mountain, has proven to be challenging. It is however already well on its way and promises us images of Earth-like planets around nearby stars, the ability to search for signs of life in their atmospheres and an understanding of how the first galaxies formed.

In this talk, Professor Tom Ray, President of the European Southern Observatory, will explain how engineers and astronomers have overcome the difficulties in building such a colossus and what it can do to help us unravel the birth of the Universe and address the age-old question of whether we are alone.