An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A 1.2 m semi-robotic telescope located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma Island (Canary Islands, Spain). It is operated by the staff of the Institute of Astronomy, University of Leuven (Belgium).

The telescope uses two modern instruments HERMES: a → high-resolution optical → spectrograph, and MAIA, a three-armed camera equipped with large → charge-coupled device (CCD)s and optimized for more specific rapid variability studies.

The main science drivers of the research performed on the basis of Mercator data are related to a wide range of variable phenomena with a clear focus on stellar astrophysics, in particular the stellar internal structure by means of → asteroseismology.

See also: Named after the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594), who studied and taught at the University of Leuven before moving to Duisburg (Germany)