The Dutch Open Telescope

The Utrecht Open Tower Telescope, recently renamed into "Dutch Open Telescope", is now being installed at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma (Fig. 1). Like THEMIS, the DOT is a solar telescope of novel design, is located at a superior site, aims at high spatial resolution, is suited to polarimetry, has been long in the making, and should start its scientific career in 1997. Unlike THEMIS, the DOT has no dome, no vacuum enclosure, no post-focus equipment, and no long-term funding.