years () this has included: The SAURON project, an integral field spectrograph survey of nearby elliptical and lenticular galaxies (2001–2010) The first spectrum of an asteroid which subsequently hit Earth, (2009) The first spectrum of Hanny's Voorwerp (2009) The discovery that diffuse interstellar bands do not originate in circumstellar envelopes (2008) Confirmation that WASP-3b is an extrasolar planet (2008) High-resolution spectra of the first known double supernova, SN 2006jc (2007) Future developments The upcoming generation of extremely large telescopes (ELTs) will require sophisticated adaptive optics in order to be used to their full capability. Because the WHT had an advanced adaptive optics system operating, it has received attention from the various ELT programs. , the European Southern Observatory's European-ELT (E-ELT) project had a programme to utilise the WHT as a test-bed for its adaptive optics system, and received several nights per year for on-sky testing. The project involves construction of new optical experiments at one of the Nasmyth foci, and is called CANARY. CANARY will demonstrate the multi-object adaptive optics (MOAO) required for the EAGLE instrument on the E-ELT. The UK's STFC (originally the major financial contributor) has gradually reduced its funding for the ING telescopes over a number of years. Some of this funding shortfall has been made up by other partners increasing their contributions, and some by efficiency savings and cutbacks. As a result, the shares of observing time will become UK 33%, Netherlands 28%, Spain 34% and 5% for any nationality. A new development, started in 2010, is the development of a new wide-field multi-object spectroscopy facility (WEAVE), being developed by a UK-led consortium involving major contributions from the Netherlands, Spain, France, and Italy, the final installation of which was confirmed in August 2022. WEAVE will provide medium-high resolution spectroscopy in the visible (360–950 nm) range for up to 1000 simultaneous targets over a 2 degree field of view, and is currently expected to operate for several years. See also List of largest optical reflecting telescopes Notes References External links WHT Homepage Images of the WHT Astronomical observatories in La Palma Science and Technology Facilities Council Optical telescopes