Our visit to the GranTeCa

Roque de Los Muchachos La Palma Observatory

This is our photo reportage of our visit to the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GranTeCa).

Entering the GranTeca from the top of the Roque de Los Muchachos is a bit as a science fiction escape!

You can find all the information to visit the GranTeCa observatory of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias – IAC here: www.iac.es

The Gran Telescopio Canarias (meaning “Canaries Great Telescope”), also known as GranTeCan or GTC, is a 10.4 m (410 in) reflecting telescope undertaking commissioning observations at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, in the Canary Islands of Spain, as of July 2009.

Construction of the telescope, sited on a volcanic peak 2,267 metres (7,438 ft) above sea level, took seven years and cost €130 million (£112 million).

GranTeCa installation had been hampered by weather conditions and the logistical difficulties of transporting equipment to such a remote location. The GTC Project is a partnership formed by several institutions from Spain and Mexico, the University of Florida, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). Planning for the construction of the telescope, which started in 1987, involved more than 1,000 people from 100 companies. GranTeCa is the world’s largest single-aperture optical telescope, until now.

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The Gran Telescopio Canarias Observatory Visit

We would like to point out that the visit inside the GranTeCa is diurnal and does not in any way foresee the vision of the sky and the stars. The GranTeCa is a scientific institution.

If you want to visit the Gran Telescopio Canarias, please follow the instructions here.

If you want to see the stars by night with a telescope, please book your visit here.

We visited the GranTeCa and took some photos during our excursion, enjoy!