Astronomical Telescopes at the Turn of the Century

The final years of the XXth Century and the initial years of the XXIst Century are witnessing a revolution in the construction of large telescopes. This has been possible thanks to the availability of both thin mirror technologies and large computing power. Astronomy is thus benefiting from this. Indeed the turn of the century has been rich with new discoveries, from the detections of extrasolar planets to the discovery of the the farthest galaxies ever seen or the detection of acceleration in the expansion of the Universe. Spain is leaving her imprint on the telescope making revolution and is promoting the construction of a 10.4 metre telescope in the “El Roque de Los Muchachos” observatory, on the Island of La Palma, Spain. The Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) is currently at an advanced stage of construction, with science operation expected to start early in 2006.