The first star observed with the GTC, a star in the vicinity of Polaris, the North Star. The picture was obtained by layering the images from the twelve segments on top of one another. The graphic on the left shows a section through the image, a technique used in Astronomy for calculating image quality. The GTC obtained a quality of 0.6 arcseconds, a significant advance for First Light at a segmented telescope.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF: GTC-IAC