The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING) consists of the 4.2m William
Herschel Telescope (WHT), the 2.5m Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) and the 1.0m
Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope (JKT). The ING is located 2,350m above sea level at
the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory (ORM) on the island of La Palma,
Canary Islands, Spain. The WHT is the largest telescope of its kind in Western Europe.
The construction, operation, and development of the ING telescopes is the
result of a collaboration between the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland and
Spain.
The ING operates, maintains and developes the telescopes on behalf of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) of the United Kingdom, the Nederlandse
Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) of the Netherlands and the
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) of Spain.
The Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory, which is the principal European
northern hemisphere observatory, is operated on behalf of Spain by the
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC).
The site is provided by Spain, and in return Spanish astronomers
receive 20 per cent of the observing time on the telescopes. The operation
of the site is overseen by an International Scientific Committee, or
Comité Científico Internacional (CCI).
A further 75 per cent of the observing time is shared by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain (extra observing time). The
remaining 5 per cent is reserved for large scientific projects to promote
international collaboration between institutions of the CCI member
countries.
