American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
Located at 2,400 meters on La Palma, ORM benefits from exceptional observing conditions, including clear skies, low atmospheric turbulence, and minimal light pollution. ORM's high altitude places it above most atmospheric disturbances, ensuring optimal transparency for optical and infrared observations. The site also benefits from the Canary Islands' trade winds, which create a temperature inversion layer that minimizes atmospheric turbulence and stabilizes the night sky. These factors, along with the ability to observe both Northern and Southern celestial hemispheres, make the site ideal for cutting-edge research. The skies above the Canary Islands are protected by law and have been designated an "astronomy reserve" since the signing of the International Treaty on Cooperation in Astrophysics in 1979, enabling astronomers from around the world to access the site's world-class resources.
The ORM is home to several prominent telescopes, most notably the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), the world's largest optical-infrared telescope with a 10.4-meter segmented mirror. Other key facilities include the 4.2-meter William Herschel Telescope (WHT), the 2.5-meter Isaac Newton Telescope (INT), and the 2.56-meter Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), each contributing to a wide array of research, from exoplanets, to stellar evolution to large-scale cosmological surveys and time-domain studies. The observatory's atmospheric conditions are among the best globally, with more than 300 clear nights per year. ORM also plays a vital role in high-energy astrophysics, housing the MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov) telescopes. Additionally, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) North is under construction and, once completed, will be the most sensitive ground-based facility for γ-ray astronomy.