Category: News

The Italian  Nazionale Galileo Telescope (TNG) is located at the Observatory on Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma. With a primary mirror of 3.58 metres in diameter, it is the most important installation of the Italian astronomical community in the visible/infrared range. The TNG is equipped with 3 instruments permanently installed in its foci and offers a variety of observing modes covering the optical and near-infrared spectrum, offering wide-field imaging up to high-resolution spectroscopy. Its most relevant instrument is the HARPS-N "High Precision Radial Speed ​​Planter in the Northern Hemisphere. It is one of the most accurate spectrographs in the world that has the main objective of discovering and characterizing extrasolar planets the size of the Earth (Echelle spectrometer at 383-633 nm wavelengths and with spectral resolution of R = 115000). In practice HARPS-N measures the slight oscillation of the star caused by the presence of the planet (in m/s) with which it can estimate the mass of the exoplanets, their chemical composition and distance to the star.   History The agreements for the construction of the telescope in La Palma were signed in 1979 and the telescope The telescope saw its "first light" in 1998. Until June 2004, the telescope was operated by the Galileo Galilei Genter, created in 1997 by the Consorzio Nazionale per l'Astronomia e l'Astrofisica (CNAA). From  July 27, 2004, the new Galileo Galilei Foundation, funded by the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), is responsible for the management of the TNG. Results The TNG is currently looking mainly for exoplanets, a very relevant field in astrophysics at the moment. The first exoplanet discovered by the TNG was the Kepler 78 b, a planet similar to Earth in size and mass but much hotter, surface temperature can reach 5,000 degrees. Another exoplanet also in the news, and