ESO 3.6-metre telescope
The ESO 3.6-metre telescope started operations in 1977 and set Europe the exciting engineering challenge of constructing and operating a telescope in the 3–4-metre class in the Southern Hemisphere.
Over the years, the ESO 3.6-metre telescope has been constantly upgraded, including the installation of a new secondary mirror that has kept the telescope in its place as one of the most efficient and productive engines of astronomical research.
The telescope hosts HARPS, the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher, the world's foremost exoplanet hunter. HARPS is a spectrograph with unrivalled precision and is the most successful finder of low-mass exoplanets to date.
Science goals
Search for exoplanets; asteroseismology.
Links
- Images taken with the ESO 3.6-metre telescope
- Images of the ESO 3.6-metre telescope
- For scientists: More details can be found on the telescope page.
- ESO press releases with results from the ESO 3.6-metre telescope
ESO 3.6-metre telescope
| Name: | ESO 3.6-metre telescope |
| Site: | La Silla |
| Altitude: | 2375 m |
| Enclosure: | Classical dome |
| Type: | Optical & near-infrared telescope |
| Optical design: | Cassegrain |
| Diameter. Primary M1: | 3.57 m |
| Material. Primary M1: | Fused Silica |
| Diameter. Secondary M2: | 1.20 m. since Nov 1984: 0.33 m chopping M2 |
| Material. Secondary M2: | Fused Silica |
| Diameter. Tertiary M3: | 1.33 m |
| Mount: | Equatorial Horseshoe mount |
| First Light date: | 7 November 1976 |
| Adaptive Optics: | COME-ON ADONIS 1990 |