Scientists from nine institutions, including the University of Illinois, have built a 19.2 million dollar telescope at the South Pole. The project took several months to complete, and was recently finished. University of Chicago Astronomer and principle investigator of the project

John Carlstrom shared his experience building the behemoth object and the conditions they had to deal with.

“When we arrived to work on it, it was early November and the day we landed I think it was -44. When it’s really that cold, it’s slow-go. The clothes they give you to wear are very good and very warm, but you can’t have your skin exposed.”

Professor Carlstrom says it was all worth it though, as there are high hopes for what this telescope will accomplish in the astronomy world.

“But we’re trying to measure the nature of this so-called dark energy that pervades our universe. It appears that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. The experiment that we want to do with this telescope is we want to see ow have the roles of dark matter, that is what controls gravity, compares with dark energy through cosmic time; the age of the universe.”

Professor Carlstrom explains more about the project and the conditions in greater detail. To hear the whole interview, click on the audio.