Gran Telescopio Canarias

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Telescope
Gran Telescopio Canarias
Dome of the Gran Telescopio Canarias
Dome of the Gran Telescopio Canarias
Type Altazimuth - Ritchey-Chretien mount reflector
Location Roque de los Muchachos

height 2,267 m
Geographic coordinates 28 ° 45 '24 "  N , 17 ° 53' 31"  W Coordinates: 28 ° 45 '24 "  N , 17 ° 53' 31"  W.
wavelength optical, near-mid-infrared telescope
Aperture 10.4 m

construction time 2002-2008
Installation 2007
Specialty Composed of 36 hexagonal mirror elements

The Gran Telescopio Canarias ( GTC ) is a large astronomical telescope with a 10.4 m mirror diameter on the Roque de los Muchachos on the Canary Island of La Palma . The term GRANTECAN is also common .

history

The GTC project was realized through a Spanish initiative led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias . Other participations come from Mexico through the Institute for Astronomy of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica and the USA through the University of Florida . The construction of the plant cost around 130 million euros.

The GTC was built as part of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory . The mechanical structure of the telescope was completed in early 2005. In the night of July 13th to 14th, 2007, the test operation was started as part of an opening ceremony, but only with 12 mirror segments. The mirror was completed with the insertion of the last element on August 12, 2008.

The ceremonial commissioning by the Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia took place on July 24, 2009.

Furnishing

Gran Telescopio Canarias

GTC is a reflector telescope with active optics . With its segmented main mirror consisting of 36 hexagonal individual mirrors, it has the same concept as the Keck telescope . The mirror substrate made from Zerodur - ceramic was developed by the Mainzer Schott AG made.

The first instruments at the GTC were OSIRIS (camera and spectrometer for light between 0.365 and 1.05 µm wavelength) and CanariCam (camera and spectrometer for medium infrared between 8 and 25 µm wavelength). In the meantime, further instruments have been added. Various imaging instruments and spectrographs are currently (2016) available.

See also

swell

  1. ↑ The Gran Telescopio Canarias completes its primary mirror ( English ) gtc.iac.es. April 20, 2009. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved on March 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ Hunt for black holes and new galaxies . tagesschau.de. July 24, 2009. Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved on March 19, 2016.
  3. ↑ Gran Telescopio CANARIAS ( English ) gtc.iac.es. Retrieved March 19, 2016.

Web links

Commons : Gran Telescopio Canarias  - Collection of images, videos and audio files