BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
ADVANCEMENTS IN OPTO-MECHANICS FOR ELF
The Laboratory of Innovations for Opto-Mechanics (LIOM) is a cutting-edge research facility at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias that focuses on developing novel technologies for the exploration of the environments of nearby stars in pursuit of finding life beyond our solar system.
EXOLIFE FINDER (ELF)
ELF is a proposed hybrid interferometric “Fizeau” optical-IR telescope for the exploration of life beyond Earth. ELF, on completion, will have many lightweight 5 meter-scale diameter mirrors. The ELF searches for signs of life on other planets beyond the Sun, and by “direct imaging” it paves the way for a new era of space exploration and scientific discovery.
SMALL EXOLIFE FINDER (SELF)
A prototype for the large ELF telescope, the Small ELF, is designed to test and refine technologies before they are implemented on the full-scale instrument. It is an unusual ground-based telescope optimized for achieving coronagraphic high-resolution stellar environment data. Through SELF, scientists will be able to better understand the capabilities of ELF and optimize its potential for discovering new exoplanets and exolife.
“Space is for everybody. It’s not just for a few people in science or math, or for a select group of astronauts. That’s our new frontier out there, and it’s everybody’s business to know about space.”
THE ELF SPOTLIGHT
Check our latest news and updates
OUR PARTNERS
