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The 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope (WHT)

WHT drawing
The William Herschel Telescope, inaugurated in 1987, is one of the largest optical telescopes of its kind in Europe, with a primary mirror of diameter 4.2 metres.

Its state-of-the-art instrumentation together with the superb sky quality of the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory have made the William Herschel Telescope one of the most scientifically productive telescopes in the world.

It is a general-purpose facility, instrumented to allow a wide range of astronomical observations, from the optical wavelengths to the infrared, and covering both imaging and spectroscopy. Through continued development of instrumentation, particularly in the field of adaptive optics, the William Herschel Telescope remains at the forefront of astronomical research.

The telescope played an important role in discovering the accelerated expansion of the Universe, and it has made important contributions in the fields of observational cosmology, gamma-ray bursts, galaxy dynamics and star evolution.

More information can be found at the ING Public Information web pages.

William Herschel Telescope

General information

The William Herschel Telescope:

William Herschel Telescope info sheet. PDF: English | Español.

Articles on the WHT.

NAOMI image of asteroid 2002NY40

The scientific impact

Scientific Highlights.

For every ING scientific highlight, the telescope involved is specified. Please look for the ones achieved using the WHT.
Use of observing time and scientific productivity
Of every ING telescope, including publications.
WHT Deep Field

Images obtained using the WHT

ING Image Galleries.

These web pages show images which were taken using the WHT and sorted into different collections.
WHT and the Milky Way

Photos of the WHT

The telescope

Instruments and detectors

External views

Other facilities

Construction and erection

WHT cutaway

Technical Information

WHT Home Page.
General Information web page mantained by the WHT manager.
Other documentation.
Other technical aspects of the WHT are well documented in the online astronomy documentation archive.


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Last modified: 13 November 2023