Nordic Optical Telescope
The building of the Nordic Optical Telescope near the time of sunset.
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| Location(s) | La Palma, Canary Islands |
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| Coordinates | 28°45′26″N 17°53′06″W / 28.75722°N 17.88500°WCoordinates: 28°45′26″N 17°53′06″W / 28.75722°N 17.88500°W |
| Organisation | NOT Council |
| Altitude | 2,382 metres (7,815 ft) |
| Wavelength | Optical / infrared |
| Built | 1988 |
| Telescope style | Ritchey-Chretien reflector |
| Diameter | 2.56 metres (101 in) |
| Focal length | 2.816m |
| Mounting | alt/az |
| Enclosure | Half sphere |
| Website | http://www.not.iac.es/ |
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The Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) is an astronomical telescope located at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma in the Canary Islands. The telescope saw first light in 1988, and was officially inaugurated during September 1989. Regular observing started in 1990. It is funded by Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and (since 1997) Iceland. Access is provided directly to astronomers of the funding countries, and of all nationalities through international time allocation committees.
The NOT was the first major telescope facility designed to use active optics to correct the shape of a thin, lightweight primary mirror supported on actuators. The main mirror has a diameter of 2.56 metres (101 in), and it was produced by the optical laboratory at the Tuorla Observatory.
The NOT operates three instruments that can be mounted -only one at a time- under the Cassegrain focus:
There are two more instruments, permanently mounted on a folded-Cassegrain configuration. Retractable folding mirrors allow to switch in short time from the main instrument to either of them.
The NOT has been host to a number of instruments on a "visitor" status.
A new instrument for the NOT is currently under development, under the working name of NTE. This new instrument is meant to be mounted permanently in the Cassegrain focus, providing imaging and spectroscopic capabilities both in the full optical and near-infrared range.
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