Leonhard Euler Telescope
Encyclopedia
Reflecting telescope
A reflecting telescope is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from...
at the Geneva Observatory at La Silla Observatory
La Silla Observatory
La Silla Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Chile with three telescopes built and operated by the European Southern Observatory organisation, and several others are partly maintained by ESO...
. It is use for astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, and runs the CORALIE echelle spectrograph
CORALIE spectrograph
The CORALIE spectrograph is an echelle type spectrograph used for astronomy. This instrument used with a telescope to measure star spectra for the Doppler effect to detect the presence of extrasolar planets by the radial velocity method...
to search for planets. Its first planet discovery was of one in orbit around Gliese 86
Gliese 86
Gliese 86 is a K-type dwarf star approximately 35 light-years away in the constellation of Eridanus. It has been confirmed that a white dwarf orbits the primary star...
. It was determined to be a 4MJ planet with an orbital period of 15.8 earth days. In addition, many other extra solar-system planets were discovered or examined after this discovery.
The observatory is operated by the University of Geneva
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...
of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
since the telescopes was finished in 1998. The telescope is named for famous mathematician Leonhard Paul Euler.
The Euler 1.2 and the Mercator Telescope
Mercator Telescope
The Mercator Telescope is a 1.2m telescope, operated by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven , Belgium, in collaboration with the Observatory of the University of Geneva. It is named after Gerard Mercator, famous cartographer....
were part of the Southern Sky extrasolar Planet search Programme which has discovered numerous extrasolar planets.
