Gornergrat Infrared Telescope, Infrared telescope facility at Gornergrat, Switzerland
The Gornergrat Infrared Telescope (TIRGO) was a 1.5-metre Cassegrain telescope with a tip-tilt correcting secondary, built for infrared observations and mounted on the northern tower of the Kulm Hotel at Gornergrat, at 3,135 metres. It was run by the Istituto di Radioastronomia (C.N.R.), Florence section, with the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory and the University of Florence's astronomy department. It was decommissioned in March 2005.
The 1.5-metre Cassegrain telescope stood on the northern tower of the Kulm Hotel at Gornergrat, at 3,135 metres. It was run by the Istituto di Radioastronomia (IRA–C.N.R.), Florence section, formerly CAISMI, with the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory and the University of Florence's astronomy department. Operations ended in March 2005.
The name Telescopio InfraRosso del Gornergrat is an Italian backronym: its initials spell TIRGO, the acronym the instrument was known by in publications. The telescope was operated by the Istituto di Radioastronomia (IRA–C.N.R.), Florence section, formerly CAISMI, with the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory and the University of Florence's astronomy department.
The telescope sat on the northern tower of the Kulm Hotel at Gornergrat, at 3,135 m above sea level, above Zermatt in the Swiss Alps. The hotel and the observatory site are reached by the Gornergrat railway from Zermatt. The altitude is high enough that the air is thin and cold, and the site is snow-covered for much of the year.
The telescope's secondary mirror used tip-tilt correction to counter air turbulence during infrared observations. The instrument sat on the northern tower of the Kulm Hotel at Gornergrat, at 3,135 metres, and was decommissioned in March 2005.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,623 contributors worldwide.