Prince Philippe of Belgium leads industrial delegation visiting ESO sites in Chile

The heir apparent to the throne of Belgium visited ESO's Paranal Observatory, accompanied by a business delegation exploring future opportunities for European industry within the context of ESO's European Extremely Large Telescope project.

His Royal Highness Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, Crown Prince of Belgium, started his visit to the ESO sites in Chile on Monday 5 December 2011, taking part in an industrial day at the ESO Vitacura offices in Santiago, Chile. The event highlighted the many opportunities that will be available for European companies thanks to ESO's E-ELT, which will be "the world's biggest eye on the sky" with a 40-metre-class primary mirror.

"The E-ELT will provide invaluable opportunities for ESO Member State companies and organisations alike, and as the biggest telescope of its kind, it will be a powerful driver for future research," declared Prof. Massimo Tarenghi, the ESO Representative in Chile.

As one of the founding members of ESO, Belgium has already made many major contributions to the organisation. For example the four Auxiliary Telescopes at the Paranal Observatory were built by the Belgian company AMOS (Liege). Two important contracts related to the design phase of the E-ELT have already been awarded to Belgian companies.

The Belgian astronomical community has also made extensive use of ESO facilities. Very recently, the Belgian TRAPPIST telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory was used to make an important discovery related to the dwarf planet Eris (eso1142 - http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1142/).

On Wednesday 7 December, the delegation flew from Santiago to the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth and home to ESO's Paranal Observatory. His Royal Highness was taken on a tour of the installations by Prof. Massimo Tarenghi and Dr. Michael Sterzik, who explained the purpose and operation of the telescopes. After the opening of the domes at sunset, the delegation was led to one of the control rooms to witness some of the scientific work currently under way at Paranal.

Prince Philippe was accompanied by Minister Marcourt, Vice-President and Minister of Economy, SME, Foreign Trade and New Technologies for the Wallonia Government, Minister of State Jos Chabert, and Dirk Van Eeckhout, Ambassador of Belgium in Chile, as well as by a major business delegation, including representatives from AMOS, SEPTENTRIO, ENE, XENIC and the University of Liege.

Provided by ESO