TRAPPIST-North observatory

High in Morocco's Atlas Mountains, at the Oukaimeden Observatory site, TRAPPIST-North has played a small but real part in one of the decade's biggest exoplanet discoveries.

About TRAPPIST-North observatory

TRAPPIST-North is a 60cm optical robotic telescope, inaugurated on 6 October 2016 and operated by the University of Liege's Space Center in Belgium. It's the northern twin of TRAPPIST-South, which sits at La Silla in Chile — together the pair scan the sky for transiting exoplanets around nearby stars.

History

The observatory's most famous moment came shortly after it opened: TRAPPIST-North contributed to the observations behind the announcement, on 22 February 2017, of seven exoplanets orbiting the ultra-cool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, three of them within its habitable zone.

Telescopes & research

The 60cm robotic telescope works by transit photometry, watching for the tiny dips in starlight caused by a planet passing in front of its star. It sits at around 2,750 metres elevation, on the grounds of the Oukaimeden Observatory in the High Atlas.

Location & getting there

TRAPPIST-North is located within the Oukaimeden Observatory site in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, at roughly 2,750 metres above sea level — a high, dry setting chosen for its clear, stable skies.

Visiting TRAPPIST-North observatory

As a robotic research telescope, TRAPPIST-North isn't set up for casual walk-in visits in the way a public observatory would be. Check with the University of Liege's TRAPPIST project or Oukaimeden Observatory directly for any current visiting arrangements before travelling.

See your named star from here

A telescope that helped discover seven planets around a distant star is a good reminder of how much sits waiting in the night sky. Name a star with Star Register, look up its exact coordinates in our star catalogue, and see how it lines up with the skies TRAPPIST-North watches over Morocco.