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The first stone of the world’s largest optical telescope, the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), will be laid on 26 May. The 39m-diameter telescope is being built in the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile and is expected to see first light in 2024. Once completed it will take on some of the biggest challenges in astronomy, such as attempting to find and study Earth-like exoplanets, observing the first stars and probing dark matter.