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| Location(s) | Garafía,Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife,Canary Islands, Spain |
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| Coordinates | 28°45′44″N17°52′45″W / 28.76234°N 17.87925°W /28.76234; -17.87925 |
| Altitude | 2,363 m (7,753 ft) |
| Diameter | 2 m (6 ft 7 in) |
| Website | telescope |
  Location of Liverpool Telescope | |
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TheLiverpool Telescope (LT) is a two-metre-aperture[a]roboticRitchey–Chrétien telescope that observes autonomously (without human intervention). However professional astronomers, school groups and other credible registered users submit specifications to be considered by its robotic control system (RCS) at any time using an onlinegraphical user interface. Each night the RCS decides among these choices, and among any notified or glimpsed transient events, what to observe, based on target visibility and weather conditions.[1]
The telescope had first light in 2003,[2] and is the brainchild and property ofLiverpool John Moores University.
The RCS has a rapid-response capability where it will often automatically interrupt regular observations to slew (shift) to observe short-lived events with higher priority, such asgamma-ray bursts.
The LT is one of the largest robotic telescopes in the world[3] and was built by a subsidiary[b] set up byLiverpool John Moores University who own and masterminded it. It is operated (maintained) by theAstrophysics Research Institute, partly funded by the UK'sSTFC. It is at theRoque de los Muchachos Observatory onLa Palma.
Along with theFaulkes Telescope North andSouth, it is available for use by school children around the world over the internet. The registration and time allocation for the LT is organised by the National Schools Observatory.[4]
The Liverpool Telescope is one of the primary players in the Heterogeneous Telescope Networks Consortium, a global collaboration between major research groups in the field of robotic telescopes which seeks a standard for communication between remote telescopes, telescope users, and other scientific resources.
Plans for an improved version, the New Robotic Telescope (NRT), are underway.[5][6]
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