The largest telescope in the world would be able to see the light of the headlights of a car in Australia from the Canary island of La Palma, but it has been closed for 22 days due to a “volcanic emergency”. It is almost impossible to imagine the perfection of their mirrors, but those responsible for the Great Canary Telescope (GTC) offer a revealing comparison: they are so smooth that if one of these polished surfaces were the size of the Iberian Peninsula, its most noticeable irregularity would have only a few centimeters Tall. The Italian Astrophysicist Romano Corradi, director of the giant, warns that “the risks are evident.” Microscopic analyzes show that the ashes arriving from the new La Palma volcano are “like blades” that could damage the reflective faces.
The telescope is a 41-meter-high mass, located at an altitude of 2,300 meters, in the peaceful Roque de los Muchachos Observatory. Corradi wants a truly Earth-like planet to be discovered from here: a twin, with water and an atmosphere, in which to look for signs of extraterrestrial life. It would be a find that could change the history of humanity, but for now it will have to wait. “Frankly, I see it difficult for us to open with the current situation of the volcano,” admits the astrophysicist.
One of the telescope operators, Álvaro Tejero, rubs a finger through a window and shows it: it is black. About 15 kilometers from the eruption, the air seems pristine, but cleaning personnel remove “shovels full of ash” from some corners, Tejero explains. The floor of the parking lot looks dark, but underneath the cars you can see that it is actually light. There is an invisible and constant rain of volcanic particles. “You cannot risk that, at any time of the night, the wind will change and all the ash will tip over you,” laments the operator, a tall Cordovan who studied Vocational Training and has ended up on the Canary Island managing the largest telescope in the world. .
Frankly, I see it difficult for us to open with the current situation of the volcano
Romano Corradi, director of the Gran Telescopio Canarias
Tejero emphasizes that the eruption is not only a technical problem for the Gran Telescopio Canarias, it is also a human disaster for its staff. “Many of the 55 colleagues who work here are being directly affected by this tragedy. Some have even lost their home. Others have been evacuated, it is not known how long. They will have to look for life in family homes or even in businesses: put the mattress there and live in some way, ”explains Tejero.
An astronomical observatory always looks like a science fiction setting, but even more so under the ash of an erupting volcano. Another of the telescope operators, Daniel Pérez Valladares, exposes his feelings in the kitchen of the workers, before starting the night shift. “The palm trees know that sooner or later we are going to experience an eruption. My grandparents lived the one in 1949, my parents lived the one in 1971, I have lived this and my son will live another ”, he reflects. Lava has already destroyed more than 1,500 buildings. Pérez Valladares goes up to work knowing that there is a volcano erasing the places where he has spent his life. “I have been surfing for 30 years on the beach of Los Guirres and it no longer exists. We friends have a chat and it looks like a wake, “laments the operator.
The Gran Telescopio Canarias was inaugurated in 2009, after an investment of 130 million euros. It is the largest in the world in the optical and infrared light ranges. Here it was obtained five years ago an image 10 times deeper than any other from Earth: a faint halo of stars around a galaxy some 500 million light-years away. The telescope, promoted by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, has carried out multitude of exceptional discoveries, such as the detection of primitive stars, essential to understand the first moments after the origin of the universe.
The mechanical engineer Javier Castro shows the telescope inside. He was one of its designers, a quarter of a century ago. “It is still a great 350 mobile ton machine,” he explains. The giant floats on a thin layer of hydraulic oil. It is inconceivable, but a child could move the 350 tons with just one hand. “It is a very complex machine. We can be talking about millions of components ”, points out Castro, current head of developments for the telescope. One of your biggest concerns is the magnetic iron in volcanic dust. “There are many motors that have magnets and it could get stuck,” he warns.
There are many motors that have magnets and volcanic dust could stick to it.
Javier Castro, engineer of the Gran Telescopio Canarias
Corradi’s team decided close the gates of the dome on September 24. The Gran Telescopio Canarias boasts in your brochures to work “24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year”, but that was before the bowels of the earth opened up to fifteen kilometers. “We are not wasting time. We are advancing the work that we have to do anyway, ”Corradi emphasizes. The staff is taking advantage of the forced closure to renew some instruments. “With these tasks we have at least a month. If the eruption lasts much longer, we will have to find ways to open it safely, ”says the director.
Other telescopes of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, What the Nordic Optical or the Mercator, they have already dared to reopen, but they are much smaller, which facilitates cleaning tasks. The case of the Gran Telescopio Canarias is very different. A drone has detected accumulated ash at various points on its deck. “Cleaning this dome is a very complicated job, but if we are in this situation for another month, we will try to find a system to do a thorough cleaning every time there is an ash episode,” says Corradi. The largest telescope in the world cannot stand still for months.
The operator Álvaro Tejero points to the sky. The ash column of the volcano rises on the horizon and culminates in a peculiar series of concentric circles of clouds. “The wave that is forming is curious,” says the technician, with a mixture of astonishment and resignation. “Even volcanologists don’t know when this is going to stop. We are still three days more than three months ”.
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