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Since the last
Newsletter, there have been many developments at the observatory. The most
significant ones are those focussing on the 10-m GRANTECAN telescope, where
the building, services and dome have now largely been completed. At the time
of writing this, the azimuth bearing is being mounted. The next several months
will see the erection of the telescope structure. If you want to monitor
progress on how the telescope is being erected, see http://www.gtc.iac.es/webcam_s.asp.
The MAGIC Cherenkov telescope, officially inaugurated together with the Mercator
telescope, on 10 October, has dramatically changed the skyline of the observatory.
This 17-m telescope, out in the open, is now being fitted out with its segmented
mirrors that later this year will catch the photons of Cherenkov light from
high energy air showers. The HEGRA experiment, often referred to by visitors
as the bee hives that were constructed in the same area, has been dismantled
and removed.
The Liverpool telescope keeps making good progress. Some setbacks with the
enclosure are being tackled, while the telescope structure is now essentially
complete and the optics were recently put into the telescope. The Liverpool
telescope was the centre of attention in May, as it was inaugurated by dignitaries
from the UK and Spain.
In December La Palma was hit by a storm with exceptionally strong winds.
The storm not only wreated havoc in the banana plantations on the island,
but also caused the MERCATOR dome to suffer serious damage, sufficiently
to stop operation for some time while a new dome was ordered. The adjacent
picture shows how the new dome is being seated on top of the building.
The sometimes very strong winds hitting the island, under the right atmospheric
conditions give rise to weird cloud formations. Last year Michiel van der
Hoeven was lucky to be in the right place at the right time to take the adjacent
remarkable picture, showing a dome-shaped cloud overarching the telescopes,
lit by the setting Sun. This picture was one of the centre pieces of an exhibit
of exceptional cloud formations organised by the aviation authorities on
La Palma.
ING is participating in the development of SuperWASP, a robotic set of cameras
that will monitor a very large part of the sky every night. The project is
led by the Queen’s University of Belfast. The system will sit in its own
enclosure that is being erected over the summer, located not far from the
JKT. More news on this project will be presented in the next issue of the
ING Newsletter.
If you drive up to the WHT you will see on your left-hand side a slender
tower with a small telescope at the top. This is a solar seeing monitor in
support of the site testing campaigns for the planned Advanced Technology
Solar Telescope (ATST), a 4-m solar telescope under study in the US. La Palma
is one of the few pre-selected sites for this telescope.¤
From top to bottom, left to right:
MAGIC telescope near completion (credit Lise Autogena); MAGIC telescope and
adjacent control room under construction; inauguration of Liverpool Telescope
on 7 May; replacement of damaged MERCATOR telescope; a fantastic cloud over
La Palma (credit Michiel van der Hoeven); SuperWASP building.
