A CHELMSFORD-BASED technology company is working on the world’s largest telescope, which will enable astronomers to view Earth-like planets orbiting distant stars.

Teledyle e2v, which is based in Waterhouse Lane, is involved in the project that will see The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) created on a mountain in Chile.

The ELT, which will cost around a million Euros to build, will be roughly the same size in diameter as the Colosseum in Rome and will be capable of gath - ering 250 times as much light as the Hubble space telescope.

Teledyle e2v has been awarded a multi-million Euro contract by the European Southern Observatory to design and produce 28 sensors. These will enable the ELT to adapt to changes in atmospheric conditions about 700 times a second, ensuring it maintains a sharp, high-resolution image.

The ELT is planned to be operational by 2024.

Dr Giuseppe Borghi, Vice President of Business Development at Teledyne e2v, added: “We are delighted that ESO awarded this contract to Teledyne e2v against strong competition, and it confirms our strategic interest to deliver the highest performance products to ESO and all astrono - my customers.”