Around the world in 80 telescopes

2009/04/03 Kortabitarte Egiguren, Irati - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astronomia

In the project “Around the World in 80 Telescopes” the most advanced telescopes on the planet will be projected live 24 consecutive hours. Teide and Roque de los Muchachos will spread the images of the universe from the Canary Islands to the whole world.

Connections will begin today Friday 3 at eleven in the morning and end tomorrow at the same time. Participants will have the opportunity to know what is happening both at astronomical observatories in their countries and on the other side of the planet. They will also be able to ask questions, send messages, view the latest images of the cosmos and learn about the current research lines of astronomers.

The Themis, Laboratorio Solar and Quijote telescopes will connect between 13:00 and 13:30 with the Teide Observatory. The Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), William Herschel Telescope (WHT), Telescopio Nacional Galileo (TNG) and SST telescopes will do the same between 23:00 and 23:40 at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory. Also participating in this initiative are telescopes from Hawaii and Chile, Southern African Large and other Spanish entities such as the Calar Alto Observatory (Almería) and the European Center for Space Astronomy (Madrid). In this way, the project “Around the World in 80 Telescopes” aims to allow the public to travel on all continents, including Antarctica.

To do this, participants will be able to see what is happening in the sky through a webcast, similar to a television program specially designed for Internet transmission. Anyone who wants to follow this initiative can do so at http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org

It is an excellent opportunity to see how and where they study the Universe, within the “100 hours of astronomy” initiative of the International Year of Astronomy.

Image courtesy of: ANDÉN