Exploring the universe
July 24, 2009
The Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), designed to peer into the some of the most far-flung corners of the universe, is perched on top of an extinct volcano - high above the clouds -just off the northwestern coast of Africa.
Construction of the device took nine years and required a team of more than 1,000 people from 100 specialized companies, but the idea for it dates back to the 1980s.
"The GTC is a miracle, a challenge that many regarded as impossible," says Francisco Sanchez, director of the Canaries Astrophysical Institute (IAC).
According to researchers there, the approximately 130 million euro (180 million dollar) telescope will be able to capture the birth of stars, study characteristics of black holes and determine some of the chemical components of the Big Bang. It could also discover new planetary systems and provide clues as to whether or not life exists on other planets.
The device will "help to discover things that are yet to be discovered" and "produce comparable images to those made by space telescopes, but of better quality as the GTC is bigger," the researchers told AFP.
The IAC says it is the largest telescope of its kind – as tall as a 14-storey house and with a 35-meter diameter dome - making it bigger than the American Keck observatory in Hawaii and the four European VLT telescopes in Chile.
According to scientists, the advantage of larger telescopes is that they can observe light at a further distance and can travel further back in time. Because light travels at 300,000 kilometers per second, telescopes have the ability to record images of events that happened thousands of millions of years ago.
Friday's inauguration ceremony was led by Spain's King Juan Carlos.
vj/dpa/AFP/AP
Editor: Susan Houlton