The Gran Telescope CANARIAS, with a 10.4 m diameter main mirror, is currently the largest optical/infrared telescope in the world. It is located in the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, in the municipality of Garafía, on the Canary Island of La Palma.
Developed on the initiative of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, it is owned by the public company GRANTERIAN of the General Administration of the State and the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, which is responsible for its operation and future development, and with the international collaboration of:
the Institute of Astronomy of the National Autonomous University of Mexico,
the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics of Mexico, and
the University of Florida.
The telescope has 36 hexagonal segments that, thanks to their extremely precise optical alignment, provide a light-collecting area equivalent to that of a monolithic mirror of 10.4 m in diameter.
