238
mooted the organization of a meeting of leading astrophysicists under the title
Science with the E-ELT from the Northern Hemisphere. The meeting was held
in Madrid on 16 and 17 April 2009, with personnel from ESO also attending.
A number of science cases on celestial bodies of great significance were analysed, and it was concluded that there exist unique astronomical objects in
both hemispheres, and that top-level science (which must, beyond doubt, be
the prime objective of the E-ELT) could be carried out regardless of the hemisphere chosen.
We had a further intention of motivating Spanish astrophysicists, who were
well represented at the meeting. They gave their clear and strong support for
sending the E-ELT to the Canaries, to the ORM.
The proceedings of the meeting were published in English. This book is still
of great interest, as demonstrated by references made to it by the American
Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) in reaffirming its emplacement in the northern hemisphere, in either Hawaii or the Canaries.
When we began promoting the Gran Telescopio Canarias project, it had
been necessary to persuade the Spanish astronomical community to regard
the GTC as its own; we again appealed to that same community on every
occasion to secure the E-ELT for Spain. It almost happened. I remember
when, in 2009, representatives of every Spanish astronomy and astrophysics
research centre backed the demand: ‘This community has declared clearly and
enthusiastically its keen scientific interest in the project’. Also in that same
year the National Commission for Astronomy, whose purpose, according to
the Official State Bulletin, is ‘the promotion and coordination of national
astronomical programmes, [and] assessment on behalf of the General State
Administration in the matter of Astronomy and Astrophysics’, recommended
unanimously that everything necessary be done to ensure that the E-ELT be
brought to Spain.
The Prince of Asturias (now King Felipe VI) presided over the inauguration
in Spain, on 27 January 2009, of the International Year of Astronomy of the
United Nations. In his discourse he was also clear:
In the end, science is the ultimate raison d'être for these prodigious machines
that technology is placing in the hands of researchers, and through them—as
with the GTC—we know that our companies have achieved advances that are
making them more competitive. We know that they are likewise involved in the
preliminary developments of the super telescope of the twenty-first century, the
E-ELT (European Extremely Large Telescope) that is now under way. We hope
that, when the time comes, sufficient astronomical, logistic, cultural, and economic reasons will converge to make a reality our aspiration that it finally find
F. Sánchez
mooted the organization of a meeting of leading astrophysicists under the title
Science with the E-ELT from the Northern Hemisphere. The meeting was held
in Madrid on 16 and 17 April 2009, with personnel from ESO also attending.
A number of science cases on celestial bodies of great significance were analysed, and it was concluded that there exist unique astronomical objects in
both hemispheres, and that top-level science (which must, beyond doubt, be
the prime objective of the E-ELT) could be carried out regardless of the hemisphere chosen.
We had a further intention of motivating Spanish astrophysicists, who were
well represented at the meeting. They gave their clear and strong support for
sending the E-ELT to the Canaries, to the ORM.
The proceedings of the meeting were published in English. This book is still
of great interest, as demonstrated by references made to it by the American
Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) in reaffirming its emplacement in the northern hemisphere, in either Hawaii or the Canaries.
When we began promoting the Gran Telescopio Canarias project, it had
been necessary to persuade the Spanish astronomical community to regard
the GTC as its own; we again appealed to that same community on every
occasion to secure the E-ELT for Spain. It almost happened. I remember
when, in 2009, representatives of every Spanish astronomy and astrophysics
research centre backed the demand: ‘This community has declared clearly and
enthusiastically its keen scientific interest in the project’. Also in that same
year the National Commission for Astronomy, whose purpose, according to
the Official State Bulletin, is ‘the promotion and coordination of national
astronomical programmes, [and] assessment on behalf of the General State
Administration in the matter of Astronomy and Astrophysics’, recommended
unanimously that everything necessary be done to ensure that the E-ELT be
brought to Spain.
The Prince of Asturias (now King Felipe VI) presided over the inauguration
in Spain, on 27 January 2009, of the International Year of Astronomy of the
United Nations. In his discourse he was also clear:
In the end, science is the ultimate raison d'être for these prodigious machines
that technology is placing in the hands of researchers, and through them—as
with the GTC—we know that our companies have achieved advances that are
making them more competitive. We know that they are likewise involved in the
preliminary developments of the super telescope of the twenty-first century, the
E-ELT (European Extremely Large Telescope) that is now under way. We hope
that, when the time comes, sufficient astronomical, logistic, cultural, and economic reasons will converge to make a reality our aspiration that it finally find
F. Sánchez