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observing, particularly its seeing (atmospheric stability), an essential condition for adaptive optics, which must be installed in giant telescopes such as
the TMT and the E-ELT. The article also confirms that Saharan dust is not
really a problem. In fact, the dust extinction statistics for Mauna Kea
Observatory (MKO) and the ORM, and telescope optics are affected by dust
more or less equally at both sites; however, the article states, there is more
likelihood of dome closure due to sever dust at the MKO than at the ORM. I
draw attention to this because ever since I began astronomical site testing on
the peaks of Tenerife in the sixties, as mentioned in the earlier chapters, the
question of Saharan dust has been magnified out of all proportion in order
systematically to denigrate the Canarian Observatories.
Fig. 22.4 Page of the RTVE website reporting on the decision adopted regarding the
La Palma as an alternative site for the emplacement of the TMT (Thirty Meter Telescope).
(Credit: RTVE)
F. Sánchez
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