William Herschel Telescope

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William Herschel Telescope

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OrganizationIsaac Newton Group of Telescopes

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LocationRoque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma, Canary Islands

Related Topics:
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory - La Palma - Canary Islands

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Wavelength regimeOptical

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Completion dateJune 1st, 1987

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WebpageWHT Homepage

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Physical characteristics

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Telescope styleCassegrain-Nasmyth Reflector

Related Topics:
Cassegrain - Nasmyth

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Diameter4.2m

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Collecting area13.8m2

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Focal length(m, ft)

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MountingAlt-azimuth

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Dome(bi-parting, up and over, transparent, none, etc.)

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:This article is about the telescope on the Canary Islands. For the future ESA space telescope, see Herschel Space Observatory.

Related Topics:
Canary Islands - ESA - Space telescope - Herschel Space Observatory

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The William Herschel Telescope or WHT was first conceived in the late 1960s, when the Anglo-Australian Observatory was being designed. The British astronomical community saw the need for telescopes of comparable power in the Northern Hemisphere. Planning began in 1974, but by 1979 the project was on the verge of being scrapped due to a ballooning budget. A re-design cut the price-tage substantially, and Dutch astronomers took a 20% stake in the project, allowing the project to be given the go-ahead in 1981. That year was the 200th anniverary of the discovery of Uranus by William Herschel, and it was decided to name the telescope in his honour. The telescope is a member of the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes.

Related Topics:
1960s - Anglo-Australian Observatory - Northern Hemisphere - 1974 - 1979 - 1981 - Uranus - William Herschel - Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes

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Construction began in 1983, and the telescope was shipped to La Palma in 1985. It saw first light in 1987. The telescope has an altazimuth mount. The mirror is maintained so that its theoretical maximum resolution is less than 0.2 arcseconds. The typical seeing at La Palma is of the order of one arcsecond, so the telescope is limited by that.

Related Topics:
1983 - 1985 - First light - 1987 - Altazimuth mount - Resolution - Arcsecond - Seeing

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As one of the best telescopes in the world, the WHT is heavily over-subscribed, and typically three times more applications for telescope time are received than can be accommodated. Notable discoveries made using the WHT include that of a hot bubble of expanding gas at the centre of the galaxy, suggestive of the presence of a supermassive black hole; the first observation of the optical counterpart of a gamma-ray burst; and recently, the discovery of a Wolf-Rayet star with the fastest-known stellar wind.

Related Topics:
Galaxy - Black hole - Gamma-ray burst - Wolf-Rayet star - Stellar wind

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