The biggest eye to the sky has peered deep into the galaxy we call homeLocated on La Palma, a volcanic island in the Canary Islands, and armed with a mirror 34 feet (10.4 meters) wide, the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) is the largest telescope in the world.
"Crowds gathered last week on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands...to watch Spanish King Juan Carlos inaugurate the U.S. $180-million GTC, which is co-owned by Spain, Mexico, and the University of Florida in the U.S.," according to a recent National Geographic story.
Recently, GTC obtained the deepest image ever of a Milky Way region possibly containing a star in its death throes -- a neutron star, a remnant of the gravitational collapse of a massive star.
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- Blast From the Past (March 28, 2009)
- Kepler and the Gate to the Black Forest (February 15, 2009)
- Famous 400-Year-Old Star Death Observed (December 7, 2008)
- Rare Star Explosion Could Be a Rosetta Stone (November 29, 2008)
- The Final Frontier According to Ptolemy, Kennedy, Hubble and Obama (November 17, 2008)
- An Eruption 165 Years Ago Signaled the Death of a Star (September 15, 2008)
- Emissions 6,500 Light-Years Away Detected (September 1, 2008)
- Death of Star Captured for First Time (June 1, 2008)
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