Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Part 1 Optical Observatories
- 1 Palomar Mountain Observatory
- 2 The United States Optical Observatory
- 3 From the Next Generation Telescope to Gemini and SOAR
- 4 Competing Primary Mirror Designs
- 5 Active Optics, Adaptive Optics and Other Technical Innovations
- 6 European Northern Observatory and Calar Alto
- 7 European Southern Observatory
- 8 Mauna Kea Observatory
- 9 Australian Optical Observatories
- 10 Mount Hopkins' Whipple Observatory and the MMT
- 11 Apache Point Observatory
- 12 Carnegie Southern Observatory (Las Campanas)
- 13 Mount Graham International Optical Observatory
- 14 Modern Optical Interferometers
- 15 Solar Observatories
- Part 2 Radio Observatories
- Name Index
- Optical/ Infrared Observatory and Telescope Index
- Radio Observatory and Telescope Index
- General Index
- References
6 - European Northern Observatory and Calar Alto
from Part 1 - Optical Observatories
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 December 2016
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Part 1 Optical Observatories
- 1 Palomar Mountain Observatory
- 2 The United States Optical Observatory
- 3 From the Next Generation Telescope to Gemini and SOAR
- 4 Competing Primary Mirror Designs
- 5 Active Optics, Adaptive Optics and Other Technical Innovations
- 6 European Northern Observatory and Calar Alto
- 7 European Southern Observatory
- 8 Mauna Kea Observatory
- 9 Australian Optical Observatories
- 10 Mount Hopkins' Whipple Observatory and the MMT
- 11 Apache Point Observatory
- 12 Carnegie Southern Observatory (Las Campanas)
- 13 Mount Graham International Optical Observatory
- 14 Modern Optical Interferometers
- 15 Solar Observatories
- Part 2 Radio Observatories
- Name Index
- Optical/ Infrared Observatory and Telescope Index
- Radio Observatory and Telescope Index
- General Index
- References
Summary
European Northern Observatory, Canary Islands
Night-time Telescopes on Tenerife
The Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Charles Piazzi Smyth, set up two small astronomical stations at high altitude on Tenerife in the Spanish Canary Islands in 1856. Although they were not there for very long, these observatories were the first to show the great advantage of observing at high altitude.(1) No one took much notice, however, and it was not until over fifty years later that Jean Mascart of the Paris Observatory suggested that an international astronomical observatory should be established on Mount Guajara on Tenerife. Discussions then started between the Spanish, French and German governments, but they were abandoned at the start of the First World War.
There was no progress with the idea of setting up an observatory at high altitude in the Canaries for a number of years. But astronomers observed a total solar eclipse from the Canaries in 1959. In the same year Spain founded the Observatorio del Teide at Izana, on Tenerife, at an altitude of 2,380 m (7,250 ft). A 30 cm (12 inch) French photopolarimeter was installed there in 1964 to study the zodiacal light, followed by a Spanish 25 cm heliographic telescope in 1969. The largest telescope at El Teide (now part of the European Northern Observatory) is the UK's 1.5 m Infrared Flux Collector (IRFC) that was built in 1971 as the prototype for the 3.8 m United Kingdom Infrared Telescope that was completed on Mauna Kea eight years later.
Site surveys carried out by JOSO (Joint Organization for Solar Observations) in the 1970s indicated that although El Teide on Tenerife was the better Canary Islands site for solar observations (see Solar telescopes later), the Roque de los Muchachos on La Palma was better for night-time observations. So although night-time telescopes continued to be built at El Teide (see Table 6.1), the largest such telescopes were built on La Palma (see Table 6.2).
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- Observatories and Telescopes of Modern TimesGround-Based Optical and Radio Astronomy Facilities since 1945, pp. 114 - 130Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2016