General information

The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING) consists of the 4.2-metre William Herschel Telescope (WHT), the 2.5-metre Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) and the 1.0-metre Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope (JKT). The ING is located 2350 metres above sea level at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory (ORM) on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. The WHT is the largest telescope of its kind in Western Europe.

The construction, operation, and development of the ING telescopes is the result of a collaboration between the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Spain. The site is provided by Spain, and in return Spanish astronomers receive 20 per cent of the observing time on the telescopes. The operation of the site is overseen by an International Scientific Committee, or Comité Científico Internacional (CCI).

A further 75 per cent of the observing time is shared by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the Spanish Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. The remaining 5 per cent is reserved for large scientific projects to promote international collaboration between institutions of the CCI member countries.

The ING operates the telescopes on behalf of the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) of the United Kingdom, the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) of The Netherlands and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) of Spain. The Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory, which is the principal European northern hemisphere observatory, is operated by the IAC.

Isaac Newton Telescope [ JPEG | TIFF ]

Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope [ JPEG | TIFF ]