The Bernard Lyot telescope of the Pic du Midi Observatory was built in 1980. Perched at an altitude of 9,438 ft (2,877 m), facing the vast panorama of the Hautes-Pyrénées department, the TBL has a primary mirror with a diameter of 6.56 ft (2 m) and represents the main astronomical research point on French soil. While it was originally involved in all research fields related to astrophysics, its field of action has been somewhat different since 2006. After the installation of the (neo) Narval tool, the TBL became the first observatory in the world entirely dedicated to the study of star magnetism.