Image: University of Tokyo
The University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO) officially opened on Tuesday after 26 years of planning and construction. Sitting 18,500 feet high on Mount Chajnantor in the Atacama Desert in Chile, the 6.5-meter optical-infrared TAO telescope is now the highest in the world.
TAO replaces a smaller version of itself called MiniTAO, which held the highest telescope distinction before it. It beats the Chacaltaya Observatory, owned by the University of Madrid and sitting 17,191 feet on Mount Chacaltaya in Bolivia.
The next three record holders in the top ...
