GRAN TELESCOPIO CANARIAS

The '''Gran Telescopio Canarias''' ('GTC') ("Great Telescope Canary Islands"), sometimes called 'GranTeCan', is a 10.4m reflecting telescope and is undertaking commissioning observations at the ''Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos'' on the island of La Palma, Spain.
The telescope is sited on a volcanic peak 2,400 metres above sea level and took 7 years to construct. The GTC Project is a partnership formed by several institutions from Spain (90%), Mexico (5%) and the University of Florida (USA) (5%) and an initiative from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). The construction of the telescope is estimated to have cost €130 million.

Contents

First Light

See also

References

External links

First Light

The GTC started preliminary observing on 13 July 2007 following an opening ceremony using 12 segments of its primary mirror later to be increased to a total of 36 hexagonal segments fully controlled by an active optics control system. The facility is expected to be fully operational by May 2008.^[1][2] Its Day One instruments are OSIRIS, CanariCam and ELMER.^[3]

See also

★ List of largest optical reflecting telescopes

References

1. ''Tests begin on Canaries telescope'' BBC 14 July 2007
2. Giant telescope begins scouring space July 14, 2007
3. GTC - ELMER

External links

★ Gran Telescopio Canarias (English)

★ GTC News

★ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)

★ University of Florida CanariCam

★ Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de México (Spanish)

★ Instituto de Astronomía de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México(Spanish)

★ CBC article - Giant Canary Islands telescope captures first light

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