A birthday present for the William Herschel Telescope

The William Herschel Telescope is 25 years old today – first light was the 1st June 1987.

For many years the Herschel was the biggest optical and infrared telescope in Europe, until Gran Telescopio Canarias opened in 2009. It’s main mirror is 4.2 m or 165? across which was huge when it opened, although that’s medium-sized these days.

The telescope has so many different instruments that it’s been compared to a Swiss army knife, and new ones keep arriving.

And there’s good news: the William Herschel Telescope has funding for another three years, and a new instrument called WEAVE! http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=37250

Posted by sheila

Sheila came to La Palma with a six month contract and has stayed 24 years so far. She used to work as a software engineer at the observatory, but now she's a writer and Starlight guide.