Dutch Open Telescope (DOT), La Palma (Spain)

The Dutch Open Telescope is very easy to recognize. With its look of an extraterrestrial space ship, it is so different than all the other solar telescopes (well, not only solar) in the world. The minimalistic construction is very important concept as it enables an efficient natural cooling. The diameter of the primary mirror is 450 mm and the focal length only 2 m . These pictures were taken in October, 2007 during an USP-SP workshop at the DOT. The dome of the telescope is retractable (closed in the bottom picture). The DOT website.