canaries telescope asteroid hunter optir project

Canaries Telescope to Become Earth’s Asteroid Hunter

Grantecan to Become Planetary Defender

The Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC or Grantecan) is set to become a hunter of asteroids dangerous to Earth within just seven years. The Spanish state is funding the installation of a new scientific instrument with an investment of nearly €19 million, enabling the telescope to obtain observations in two ranges: visible and near-infrared light.

New Instrument to Spot Distant Threats

This technical capability will allow it to better observe transient phenomena – a method for detecting exoplanets – at great distances and to act as a planetary defender. It will be able to capture potentially hazardous asteroids when they are still very far from Earth. This was announced by the Council of Ministers, which, at the proposal of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU), approved an investment of €18.7 million for the development of this instrument, called the “OPTIR Project”, on Tuesday.

Ambitious Seven-Year Development Plan

The development of the instrument will be carried out through a Public Procurement of Innovation process, which will include all phases of the project: design, manufacturing, testing, transport, integration, and commissioning. The design and construction are expected to be completed within a period of seven years. This initiative will involve the collaboration of scientific institutions, universities, and companies, fostering knowledge transfer and consolidating the experience accumulated over more than two decades at the Grantecan.

The World’s Largest Optical-Infrared Telescope

It is worth remembering that, to this day, with its 10.4-metre diameter, the GTC is the largest operating optical-infrared telescope in the world. The telescope is located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, at an altitude of 2,400 metres. Its current technical capabilities allow it to observe the universe in visible and near-infrared light, enabling the study of objects from our solar system to very distant galaxies, the formation of stars and planets, the evolution of the universe, black holes, and dark matter and energy.

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