Roque de los Muchachos Observatory

The building of the observatory goes back to 1969, with the start of the Northern Hemisphere Observatory project.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ing.iac.es/PR/chronology.html|title = Chronology of the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes}} After ten years of research on the site there was a big international agreement between several nations to establish an international Observatory at La Palma.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ing.iac.es/PR/chronology.html|title = Chronology of the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes}}

Image:Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux - April 2012.jpg in East Sussex demonstrating its cloudy viewing conditions, which led to a search for a better location for the large telescopes]]

The observatory began operation around 1984 with the Isaac Newton Telescope, which was moved to La Palma from the Royal Greenwich Observatory site at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England. The move was troubled, and it is widely recognized that it would have been cheaper to build a new telescope on-site rather than to move an existing one.

The observatory was first staffed by representatives from Spain, Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom. Other countries which became involved later include Germany, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland, and the United States.

The observatory was officially inaugurated on 29 June 1985 by the Spanish royal family and six European heads of state. Four helicopter pads were built at the observatory to allow the dignitaries to arrive in comfort. The observatory has expanded considerably over time, with the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope opened in 1987, the Nordic Optical Telescope in 1988 and several smaller solar or specialized telescopes; the Galileo National Telescope opened in 1998 and the Gran Telescopio Canarias opened in 2006, with its full aperture in 2009.{{Citation needed|date=March 2016}}

A fire on the mountainside in 1997 damaged one of the gamma-ray telescopes, but subsequent fires in September 2005 and August 2009{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8180165.stm|title=Fires rage across Canary island|date=3 August 2009|website=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802100655/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8180165.stm|archive-date=2 August 2009|url-status=live|access-date=12 July 2013}} did no serious damage to either the buildings or the telescopes.

In 2016, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory signed an agreement to host Cherenkov Telescope Array’s northern hemisphere array at the ORM.

In 2016, the observatory was announced as the second-choice location for the Thirty Meter Telescope, in the event that the Mauna Kea site is not feasible.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tmt.org/news-center/statement-regarding-selection-alternate-site-tmt|title=Statement Regarding Selection of Alternate Site for TMT|date=31 October 2016|publisher=Thirty Meter Telescope|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101164414/http://www.tmt.org/news-center/statement-regarding-selection-alternate-site-tmt|archive-date=1 November 2016|url-status=dead|access-date=1 November 2016}}

The ORM has a warm-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb; Trewartha: Dobk), which is different from the dry climate of the coastal areas. Due to its location at an altitude of {{Convert|2223|m}} and on the windward slope, the precipitation is much higher than that of the coastal areas. The climate is warm all year round, with no extreme heat in summer, but winters below freezing are more common, and frost is frequent from December to April of the following year.

{{Weather box

|location = Roque de los Muchachos Observatory
Climate ID: C101A; coordinates {{coordinates|28|45|21|N|17|53|43|W}}; elevation: {{cvt|2223|m}}; 2019–2024 normals, extremes 2019–present{{cite web

|url = https://opendata.aemet.es/opendata/sh/4a2f221b

|title = Weather station data

|website = opendata.aemet.es

|publisher = AEMET OpenData

|language = es

|access-date = 13 November 2024

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241113115453/https://opendata.aemet.es/opendata/sh/4a2f221b

|archive-date = 2024-11-13}}

|metric first = Y

|single line = Y

|Jan record high C = 19.2

|Feb record high C = 20.5

|Mar record high C = 21.4

|Apr record high C = 21.4

|May record high C = 24.5

|Jun record high C = 25.5

|Jul record high C = 29.3

|Aug record high C = 29.7

|Sep record high C = 26.2

|Oct record high C = 23.8

|Nov record high C = 19.4

|Dec record high C = 19.0

|year record high C = 29.7

|Jan high C = 9.4

|Feb high C = 9.2

|Mar high C = 12.1

|Apr high C = 13.3

|May high C = 16.3

|Jun high C = 18.5

|Jul high C = 24.3

|Aug high C = 23.7

|Sep high C = 18.7

|Oct high C = 16.8

|Nov high C = 13.5

|Dec high C = 11.0

|year high C = 15.6

|Jan mean C = 6.2

|Feb mean C = 6.0

|Mar mean C = 8.3

|Apr mean C = 9.2

|May mean C = 12.1

|Jun mean C = 14.4

|Jul mean C = 20.3

|Aug mean C = 19.8

|Sep mean C = 15.1

|Oct mean C = 13.9

|Nov mean C = 10.3

|Dec mean C = 8.0

|year mean C = 11.9

|Jan low C = 2.9

|Feb low C = 2.7

|Mar low C = 4.6

|Apr low C = 5.1

|May low C = 7.9

|Jun low C = 10.4

|Jul low C = 16.2

|Aug low C = 15.9

|Sep low C = 11.3

|Oct low C = 10.3

|Nov low C = 7.0

|Dec low C = 4.8

|year low C = 8.2

|Jan record low C = -4.1

|Feb record low C = -3.7

|Mar record low C = -3.1

|Apr record low C = -3.4

|May record low C = -1.3

|Jun record low C = 3.7

|Jul record low C = 9.4

|Aug record low C = 8.1

|Sep record low C = 4.6

|Oct record low C = 0.9

|Nov record low C = -1.3

|Dec record low C = -0.9

|year record low C = -4.1

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 111.0

|Feb precipitation mm = 78.6

|Mar precipitation mm = 69.4

|Apr precipitation mm = 39.2

|May precipitation mm = 5.9

|Jun precipitation mm = 43.5

|Jul precipitation mm = 0.0

|Aug precipitation mm = 4.5

|Sep precipitation mm = 19.0

|Oct precipitation mm = 19.1

|Nov precipitation mm = 74.1

|Dec precipitation mm = 74.6

|year precipitation mm = 538.5

|unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 6.67

|Feb precipitation days = 7.67

|Mar precipitation days = 6.25

|Apr precipitation days = 4.75

|May precipitation days = 2.75

|Jun precipitation days = 3.25

|Jul precipitation days = 0.00

|Aug precipitation days = 1.25

|Sep precipitation days = 4.50

|Oct precipitation days = 3.75

|Nov precipitation days = 6.00

|Dec precipitation days = 8.60

|year precipitation days = 55.43

|humidity colour = green

|Jan humidity = 54

|Feb humidity = 58

|Mar humidity = 37

|Apr humidity = 45

|May humidity = 32

|Jun humidity = 33

|Jul humidity = 21

|Aug humidity = 26

|Sep humidity = 45

|Oct humidity = 39

|Nov humidity = 46

|Dec humidity = 52

|year humidity = 40

|Jan percentsun = 73

|Feb percentsun = 75

|Mar percentsun = 81

|Apr percentsun = 85

|May percentsun = 86

|Jun percentsun = 86

|Jul percentsun = 88

|Aug percentsun = 87

|Sep percentsun = 80

|Oct percentsun = 82

|Nov percentsun = 76

|Dec percentsun = 69

|year percentsun = 81

|source 1 = State Meteorological Agency/AEMET OpenData{{cite web

|url = https://opendata.aemet.es/opendata/sh/7f7b4713

|title = Acceso General

|website = opendata.aemet.es

|publisher = AEMET OpenData

|language = es

|access-date = 28 November 2024

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241127225009/https://opendata.aemet.es/opendata/sh/7f7b4713

|archive-date = 2024-11-27}}{{cite web

|url = https://www.aemet.es/es/datos_abiertos/AEMET_OpenData

|title = AEMET OpeenData

|publisher = Agencia Estatal de Meteorologia

|access-date = 2024-11-13}}

}}

The Spanish island is host to the premiere collection of telescopes and observatories from around the World, for the northern hemisphere excluding the Hawaiian islands which has a different mix of telescopes. The 10.4 meter Grand Telescope Canarias is the largest single aperture for an astronomical observatory in the world.

• Carlsberg Meridian Telescope (1984–2013)
• Dutch Open Telescope
• First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) (2011– ){{Cite book|last1=Weitzel|first1=Q.|last2=Anderhub|first2=H.|last3=Backes|first3=M.|last4=Biland|first4=A.|last5=Boller|first5=A.|last6=Braun|first6=I.|last7=Bretz|first7=T.|last8=Commichau|first8=V.|last9=Djambazov|first9=L.|last10=Dorner|first10=D.|last11=Farnier|first11=C.|title=2011 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record |chapter=FACT: A novel camera for Cherenkov telescopes for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy |date=October 2011|chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6154373|pages=1857–1860|doi=10.1109/NSSMIC.2011.6154373|isbn=978-1-4673-0120-6|s2cid=13435504}}
• Galileo National Telescope
• Gran Telescopio Canarias (2007– )
• Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO-N){{Cite web |title=The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) |url=https://www.iac.es/en/science-and-technology/publications/gravitational-wave-optical-transient-observer-goto |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias • IAC |language=en}}
• HEGRA
• Isaac Newton Telescope
• Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope
• Liverpool Telescope (2003– ){{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o0xsDQAAQBAJ&q=Liverpool+Telescope+first+light&pg=PA125|title=Observatories and Telescopes of Modern Times|last=Leverington|first=David|date=2017|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521899932|language=en}}
• MAGIC
• MASCARA
• Mercator Telescope
• Nordic Optical Telescope
• Swedish Solar Telescope
• Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP)
• William Herschel Telescope
• European Solar Telescope (In project)

Image:Hegra.jpg|Several of the helicopter pads built for the inauguration ceremony can be seen under the now dismantled HEGRA array

Image:Roque_de_los_muchachos_observatory_sunset.jpg|Telescopes at the observatory at sunset, from left to right: the NOT, the WHT, the DOT, the SST, the Mercator Telescope and the ING

Image:Gran-telescopio-20030331.jpg|Picture of the 10m Gran Telescopio Canarias building under construction in March 2003

Image:Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT).JPG|Picture of the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT)

File:Roque de los Muchachos - ORM - LST-1 - 01.jpg|Large-Sized-Telescope 1 of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (MAGIC)

Image:Roques de los muchachos-panorama.jpg|360 degrees panorama as taken on 2011 January 28

• Astronomical seeing
• Cherenkov Telescope Array
• Gran Telescopio Canarias
• IACT
• Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
• Isaac Newton Group
• La Palma
• List of space telescopes (Another important source of astronomical observations in this period)
• Roque de los Muchachos
• Teide Observatory

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Roque de los Muchachos Observatory}}

• [http://www.iac.es/gabinete/orm/indice.html Observatory website] (English)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050305074931/http://www.not.iac.es/weather/metdata.php Current weather and astronomical conditions]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090303144825/http://www.canarias360.com/panoramicas-la-palma/observatorio-del-roque-de-los-muchachos-noche.html Panoramic 360 Observatory]
• [http://www.ing.iac.es/PR/lapalma/ Travel information]
• [https://ipa.phys.ethz.ch/research/ResearchProjects/magic.html MAGIC gamma-ray observatory]
• [https://www.cta-observatory.org/about/array-locations/la-palma/ CTA gamma-ray observatory]

Category:Astronomical observatories in La Palma