From The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES) : “CARMENES instrument multiplies the number of known planets in the solar neighborhood”

From The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES)

2.22.23

Twenty thousand observations of CARMENES, obtained from the 3.5-meter telescope of the Calar Alto Observatory (CAHA) [below] are made public. The instrument, co-developed by the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC), has made it possible to discover 59 planets, some of them in the habitable zone

The CARMENES project consortium has just published the data corresponding to some twenty thousand observations taken between 2016 and 2020, from a sample of 362 nearby cold stars. The instrument, which operates from the 3.5-meter telescope of the Calar Alto Observatory, focuses on the search for exoplanets similar to Earth (rocky and temperate) with the possibility of harboring liquid water on the surface if they are in the habitable zone of the star. Among the multitude of data released, those that have allowed the discovery of 59 exoplanets, a dozen of them potentially habitable, stand out. The results are published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics [below].

“Since it came into operation, CARMENES has reanalyzed seventeen known planets and has discovered and confirmed 59 new planets in the vicinity of our Solar System, contributing notably to expanding the census of nearby exoplanets”, says Ignasi Ribas, a researcher at the Institut de Ciències de l’Espai, (IEEC-CSIC) that heads the article.

In fact, this instrument has multiplied the number of exoplanets we know of around nearby cool stars. This first data release will allow its open use to the international scientific community, which will increase the scientific production of CARMENES, which has observed practically half of all nearby small stars (a part of them can only be observed from the southern hemisphere). In addition, the spectra obtained also provide valuable information about the atmospheres of stars and their planets.

All planets discovered with the same method as CARMENES, but with other instruments, are shown as grey dots in the image. In the period 2016-2020, CARMENES has discovered and confirmed 6 “Jupiter-like” planets (with masses more than 50 times that of the Earth), 10 “Neptunes” (10 to 50 Earth masses) and 43 Earths and super-Earths (up to 10 Earth masses). The vertical axis shows what star type the planets orbit around, from the coolest and smallest red dwarfs to brighter and hotter stars (the Sun would correspond to the second from the top). The horizontal axis gives an idea of the distance from the planet to the star by showing the time it takes to complete the orbit. Planets that are in the habitable zone (blue-shaded area) can harbour liquid water on their surface. Credits: Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC).
===
The article published in Astronomy & Astrophysics [below] is precisely the hundredth number of the CARMENES consortium, which shows the success of the project. In this study, the data corresponding to the information obtained in visible light have been released, and a second data release will take place in the future with the measurements in the infrared.

The CARMENES project continues through CARMENES Legacy-Plus. Co-led by the IAA-CSIC and the ICE-CSIC, it is the natural continuation and extension of the successful observations with the instrument, which have accumulated almost eight hundred useful nights of observation during five years. It is intended as an exhaustive monitoring to detect and characterize its exoplanets for three hundred nights.

“In addition to the scientific project, from the IAA-CSIC, and in close collaboration with the technicians and engineers of the Calar Alto Observatory, we are developing a technical improvement to provide more precision to the entire instrument, and in particular to the infrared channel. Called CARMENES-PLUS, this instrumental project will allow CARMENES to maintain its high competitiveness, not only broadening its search for rocky planets but also allowing the characterization of their possible atmospheres, which constitutes the next observational challenge in the field”, highlights Pedro J. Amado, IAA-CSIC researcher who coordinated the development of the CARMENES infrared arm and heads CARMENES-PLUS.

A UNIQUE INSTRUMENT

CARMENES uses the radial velocity technique, which searches for tiny oscillations in the motion of the stars generated by the attraction of the planets that revolve around them.

Radial Velocity Method-Las Cumbres Observatory, a network of astronomical observatories, located at both northern and southern hemisphere sites distributed in longitude around the Earth.

Radial velocity Image via SuperWasp.

The radial velocity method to detect exoplanet is based on the detection of variations in the velocity of the central star, due to the changing direction of the gravitational pull from an (unseen) exoplanet as it orbits the star. When the star moves towards us, its spectrum is blueshifted, while it is redshifted when it moves away from us. By regularly looking at the spectrum of a star – and so, measure its velocity – one can see if it moves periodically due to the influence of a companion.Credit: The European Southern Observatory [La Observatorio Europeo Austral][Observatoire européen austral][Europäische Südsternwarte](EU)(CL)

And it does so around red dwarf stars (or M dwarfs), smaller than our Sun, which offer the conditions for the existence of liquid water in close orbits and in which, unlike those of the solar type, we can detect the oscillations produced by planets similar to ours with current technology.

CARMENES is a unique instrument in the world, both in terms of precision and stability, essential qualities for measuring the small speed variations that a planet produces in the stars: CARMENES detects speed variations in the movement of stars located hundreds of billions of kilometers away. with a precision of the order of one meter per second. To do this, it works under vacuum conditions and with temperatures controlled to the thousandth of a degree.

CARMENES has been developed by a consortium of eleven German and Spanish institutions. In Spain, the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC), which co-leads the project and has developed the infrared channel, the Institut de Ciències de l’Espai, (IEEC-CSIC), the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Centro de Astrobiología (CAB, CSIC-INTA) are participating. It has obtained funding from the MPG Society, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the members of the CARMENES consortium, with contributions from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Finance (MINECO), the states of Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony, the German Science Foundation (DFG), the Klaus Tschira Foundation (KTS), the Junta de Andalucía and the European Union through ERDF/ERF funds.

Astronomy & Astrophysics
See the science paper for instructive material with images.

See the full article here .

Comments are invited and will be appreciated, especially if the reader finds any errors which I can correct. Use “Reply”.

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Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

Welcome to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA). The IAA is an institute of The Spanish National Research Council[Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) (ES). The activities of the IAA (CSIC) are related to research in the field of Astrophysics and the development of instruments for telescopes and space vehicles. These webpages are intended to present our activities as well as useful information both for other professional institutions devoted to astrophysics research as well as for those interested in learning something more about the IAA and astrophysics in general.

From the front page on, an explanation is provided of the structure and organization of the IAA, followed by general information concerning our technological and scientific research in addition to all the activities we consider of general interest.

The pages of each department provide basic information: the staff, research lines, projects under way and research results. The navigator will also find more specific and varied information on each of the individual pages of the IAA staff.

Introduction
The IAA has as its general scientific objective to help increase the bulk of knowledge about our universe, from the closest at hand, our solar system, to an overall scale of the entire universe, improving descriptions and analysing the physical processes that take place there. The nature of this aim demands a multi-disciplinary approach, requiring a combination of theory, observation and technology in different areas of physics and engineering. Although the IAA is a centre for pursuing basic science, we are aware of the role that astrophysics plays as a user and producer of new technologies.

To achieve our overarching objective, different scientific programmes are being undertaken with specific aims and timetables, encompassing four large areas of astrophysics: the solar system; star formation, structure and evolution; galaxy structure and evolution; and cosmology. Basic science has been and continues to be the motor for training scientific and technical staff, as well as for stimulating the development of other disciplines. The history of the IAA clearly depicts the observational function of the centre.

The telescopes installed in the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (OSN), reflect a scientific policy with the clear objective of ensuring continued access to observational means to undertake far-reaching scientific projects.

IAA Observatorio de Sierra Nevada

This fact adds singularity to the centre and at the same time offers the challenge and incentive for research at the IAA. The design and construction of instruments for the OSN, as well as others to be carried in special space vehicles, not only serve as support for basic research by the different teams of the IAA, but also represent activity of prime importance for the appropriate combination of research and development.

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, IAA-CSIC] is a research institute funded by the High Council of Scientific Research of the Spanish government Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), and is located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. IAA activities are related to research in the field of astrophysics, and instrument development both for ground-based telescopes and for space missions. Scientific research at the Institute covers the solar system, star formation, stellar structure and evolution, galaxy formation and evolution and cosmology. The IAA was created as a CSIC research institute in July 1975. Presently, the IAA operates the Sierra Nevada Observatory, and (jointly with the also the The MPG Institute for Astronomy [MPG Institut für Astronomie](DE)) the Calar Alto Observatory.

CARMENES spectrograph, mounted on the Calar Alto 3.5 meter Telescope, located in Almería province in Spain on Calar Alto, a 2,168-meter-high (7,113 ft) mountain in Sierra de Los Filabres.

Calar Alto Astronomical Observatory 3.5 meter Telescope, located in Almería province in Spain on Calar Alto, a 2,168-meter-high (7,113 ft) mountain in Sierra de Los Filabres(ES)

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía is divided in the following departments, each with an (incomplete) outline of research avenues and groups:

Department of Extragalactic Astronomy
Violent Stellar Formation Group
AMIGA Group (Analysis of the interstellar Medium of Isolated Galaxies)
Department of Stellar Physics
Department of Radio Astronomy and Galactic Structure
Stellar Systems Group
Department of Solar System

The technological needs of IAA’s research groups are fulfilled by the Instrumental and Technological Developments Unit

From The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES): “The IAA-CSIC completes the first network of robotic telescopes present on the five continents”

From The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES)

2.14.23

Spain becomes the first country in the world to lead a global network of autonomous observatories. The BOOTES network, with seven facilities, is a pioneer in space surveillance and the study of transient cosmic phenomena, which shine briefly, intensely and suddenly.

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalucía (IAA) of the State Agency Spanish Research Council (CSIC) has finished the deployment of the BOOTES Network(Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System), the first network of robotic telescopes with stations on five continents. With installations in Spain (two stations), New Zealand, China, Mexico, South Africa and Chile, it constitutes the most complete network of its kind and a unique and fully automated resource for combining data from instruments around the world, monitoring the sky and supporting observations from missions and satellites.

“BOOTES is the result of almost twenty-five years of continuous effort, since we installed the first station in 1998 at INTA (Arenosillo, Huelva), the institution that initially supported the project. The complete deployment represents a scientific milestone since it is the first robotic network with a presence on all continents”, according to Alberto J. Castro-Tirado, scientist at IAA-CSIC acting as Principal Investigator since the very beginning. This is ahead of the American project, whose Asian station is under construction, and the Russian one, which is lacking an installation in Oceania.

The BOOTES network is managed by the IAA-CSIC, with strong involvement of the University of Malaga and in collaboration with other Spanish and international institutions. Its main objective is to quickly and autonomously observe what are known as transient sources, astrophysical objects that do not present a permanent emission over time, but rather emit light briefly, intensely and suddenly. The detection of these events is usually done from satellite, and BOOTES provides an automated response in real time that allows their characterization.

The network will contribute to the study of gamma-ray bursts, which are the most energetic events in the universe and are associated with the death of very massive stars. Its detection usually occurs through satellites, which inform the scientific community of the outbreak so that the event can be studied in detail. The existence of a network of very fast pointing robotic telescopes such as BOOTES represents an ideal complement to satellite detection and, in fact, BOOTES will also work to track and monitor neutrino sources and objects that emit gravitational waves, or even objects such as comets, asteroids, variable stars or supernovae. But it will also keep an eye on the sky, both in tracking space debris and potentially dangerous objects that may pose a threat to our planet.

The seven stations of the BOOTES Global Network (bootes.iaa.es) are present in the five continents. This is the first network achieving this goal (IAA-CSIC/UMA/INTA).

High impact science with BOOTES

“Based on BOOTES observations in recent years, we have made fruitful discoveries on Gamma-ray Bursts”, said former IAA postdoc and an external BOOTES team member, Bin-Bin Zhang, who’s currently a professor at China’s Nanjing University, “the completion of the global BOOTES network will be crucial in the era of multi-messenger astronomy”.

The network has also contributed to some high-impact results in recent years. One of the observatories of the BOOTES network was, for example, the only Spanish station that observed in 2017 the event known as GW170817, the first detection of a gravitational wave electromagnetic counterpart in history. The phenomenon responsible for this emission, the merger of two neutron stars, allowed the first simultaneous study in light and gravitational waves for the first time and inaugurated a new era in astronomical observations.

BOOTES contributed in 2020 to the identification of a very short duration radio burst-producing source in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, which was presented in three papers in Nature [below] which suggested that a magnetar, a neutron star with a very intense magnetic field, would be behind this phenomenon.

In 2021, BOOTES also contributed to the research work published in Nature [below], of different pulses in the giant magnetic flare of a neutron star: in just a tenth of a second, a magnetar released an energy equivalent to that produced by the Sun in a hundred thousand years, and its detailed analysis revealed multiple pulses at the peak of the eruption, which shed light on these still little-known giant magnetic flares.

“The culmination of the network is a success, since it has been possible with a human team and a much lower budget than similar projects. With four stations in the northern hemisphere and three in the southern hemisphere, there will always be at least one telescope covering the northern and southern skies, making it extremely efficient in detecting transient sources. In addition, with all the stations already operational, we can coordinate them as a single observatory that covers the entire planet, the potential of which we will show to the international community at the robotic astrophysics congress that we hold biannually and that will take place in October in Malaga”, points out Castro-Tirado (IAA-CSIC). “I conceived the project when I was developing my doctoral thesis in Denmark thirty years ago, and for me it is a dream come true”, concludes the researcher.

Nature

Very-high-frequency oscillations in the main peak of a magnetar giant flare

Nature
No pulsed radio emission during a bursting phase of a Galactic magnetar

See the full article here .

Comments are invited and will be appreciated, especially if the reader finds any errors which I can correct. Use “Reply”.

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES) is a research institute funded by the High Council of Scientific Research of the Spanish government Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), and is located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. IAA activities are related to research in the field of astrophysics, and instrument development both for ground-based telescopes and for space missions. Scientific research at the Institute covers the Solar System, star formation, stellar structure and evolution, galaxy formation and evolution and cosmology. The IAA was created as a CSIC research institute in July 1975. Presently, the IAA operates the Sierra Nevada Observatory, and (jointly with the also the MPG Institute of Heidelberg) the Calar Alto Observatory.

SNO Sierra Nevada Observatory is a high elevation observatory 2900m above the sea level located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Granada Spain and operated maintained and supplied by IAC. Altitude 2,896 m (9,501 ft).

Calar Alto Astronomical Observatory 3.5 meter Telescope, located in Almería province in Spain on Calar Alto, a 2,168-meter-high (7,113 ft) mountain in Sierra de Los Filabres(ES).

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía is divided in the following departments, each with an outline of research avenues and groups:

Department of Extragalactic Astronomy
Violent Stellar Formation Group
AMIGA Group (Analysis of the interstellar Medium of Isolated Galaxies)
Department of Stellar Physics
Department of Radio Astronomy and Galactic Structure
Stellar Systems Group
Department of Solar System

The technological needs of IAA’s research groups are fulfilled by the Instrumental and Technological Developments Unit

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES) via Manu Garcia, a friend from IAC-Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES): “An isolated dwarf galaxy unexpectedly affected by its environment”

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES)

via

Manu Garcia, a friend from IAC-Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES).

The universe around us.
Astronomy, everything you wanted to know about our local universe and never dared to ask.

6.13.22

Silbia López de Lacalle – sll@iaa.es

The WLM (ESO) galaxy.

Dwarf galaxies are affected by all the evolutionary processes that normally occur in galaxies of any mass. Being fainter and less massive galaxies, they are especially susceptible to environmental mechanisms caused by a nearby giant galaxy, such as gravitational tides or drag pressure due to the surrounding gaseous medium. These effects are considered the main differences between the ‘satellite’ and ‘field’ (or ‘isolated’) dwarf galaxy populations.

WLM was discovered in 1909 by Max Wolf, and later confirmed by Knut Lundmark and Philibert Melotte (hence the name, WLM). It lies about three million light-years from both the Milky Way and Messier 31 [Andromeda], and is believed to be an archetypal isolated dwarf galaxy that formed in complete isolation without external disturbances. Previous studies suggest that the amount of dark matter in this galaxy is up to ninety times higher than the amount of ordinary matter (composed of stars and gas).

Direction of movement of the galaxy.

WLM was recently observed by the recently built MeerKAT radio telescope, a precursor to the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) in Africa.

SKA SARAO Meerkat Telescope (SA), 90 km outside the small Northern Cape town of Carnarvon, SA.

From deep-sea data, the science team identified four clouds of neutral hydrogen (HI) extending in the northwest direction of WLM, in the opposite direction of its motion in the sky based on data from the Gaia satellite.

European Space Agency [La Agencia Espacial Europea][Agence spatiale européenne][Europäische Weltraumorganisation](EU) GAIA satellite.

Roger Ianjamasimanana, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) who participates in the work, explains: “The four clouds represent 10% of the total mass of neutral hydrogen in the galaxy. We have also found that there is a spatial gap between the WLM gas and the stars.”

The study of these four clouds has led to the conclusion that the WLM gas is subjected to a strong wind from the surrounding gaseous medium that crosses the galaxy and that it is expelling the gas out of the galaxy. Lead author Yanbin Yang (Paris Observatory and CNRS) clarifies why this is so surprising: “The intergalactic medium in which WLM resides is assumed to be nearly empty. Until now we had assumed that there was nothing that could have this effect in a galaxy.”

Science paper:
Astronomy & Astrophysics

The team ran computer simulations to study the effect in more detail. “Also in our simulations we find that the observations can only be explained if the intergalactic medium were much denser than expected. It seems that we have found a very large and unexpected reservoir of matter in the filamentary structure of the universe, “says Yang. Another possible explanation would be that the mass of WLM is much lower and that it does not have the percentage of dark matter attributed to it. But this would be revolutionary, since the mass of galaxies is believed to be dominated by this invisible component that only interacts gravitationally. Regardless of the explanation, this study revolutionizes the understanding of dwarf galaxies, which can no longer be considered totally isolated.

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

Welcome to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA). The IAA is an institute of The Spanish National Research Council[Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) (ES). The activities of the IAA (CSIC) are related to research in the field of Astrophysics and the development of instruments for telescopes and space vehicles. These webpages are intended to present our activities as well as useful information both for other professional institutions devoted to astrophysics research as well as for those interested in learning something more about the IAA and astrophysics in general.

From the front page on, an explanation is provided of the structure and organization of the IAA, followed by general information concerning our technological and scientific research in addition to all the activities we consider of general interest.

The pages of each department provide basic information: the staff, research lines, projects under way and research results. The navigator will also find more specific and varied information on each of the individual pages of the IAA staff.

Introduction
The IAA has as its general scientific objective to help increase the bulk of knowledge about our universe, from the closest at hand, our solar system, to an overall scale of the entire universe, improving descriptions and analysing the physical processes that take place there. The nature of this aim demands a multi-disciplinary approach, requiring a combination of theory, observation and technology in different areas of physics and engineering. Although the IAA is a centre for pursuing basic science, we are aware of the role that astrophysics plays as a user and producer of new technologies.

To achieve our overarching objective, different scientific programmes are being undertaken with specific aims and timetables, encompassing four large areas of astrophysics: the solar system; star formation, structure and evolution; galaxy structure and evolution; and cosmology. Basic science has been and continues to be the motor for training scientific and technical staff, as well as for stimulating the development of other disciplines. The history of the IAA clearly depicts the observational function of the centre.

The telescopes installed in the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (OSN), reflect a scientific policy with the clear objective of ensuring continued access to observational means to undertake far-reaching scientific projects.

IAA Observatorio de Sierra Nevada

This fact adds singularity to the centre and at the same time offers the challenge and incentive for research at the IAA. The design and construction of instruments for the OSN, as well as others to be carried in special space vehicles, not only serve as support for basic research by the different teams of the IAA, but also represent activity of prime importance for the appropriate combination of research and development.

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, IAA-CSIC] is a research institute funded by the High Council of Scientific Research of the Spanish government Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), and is located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. IAA activities are related to research in the field of astrophysics, and instrument development both for ground-based telescopes and for space missions. Scientific research at the Institute covers the solar system, star formation, stellar structure and evolution, galaxy formation and evolution and cosmology. The IAA was created as a CSIC research institute in July 1975. Presently, the IAA operates the Sierra Nevada Observatory, and (jointly with the also the The MPG Institute for Astronomy [MPG Institut für Astronomie](DE)) the Calar Alto Observatory.

Calar Alto Astronomical Observatory 3.5 meter Telescope, located in Almería province in Spain on Calar Alto, a 2,168-meter-high (7,113 ft) mountain in Sierra de Los Filabres(ES)
The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía is divided in the following departments, each with an (incomplete) outline of research avenues and groups:

Department of Extragalactic Astronomy
Violent Stellar Formation Group
AMIGA Group (Analysis of the interstellar Medium of Isolated Galaxies)
Department of Stellar Physics
Department of Radio Astronomy and Galactic Structure
Stellar Systems Group
Department of Solar System

The technological needs of IAA’s research groups are fulfilled by the Instrumental and Technological Developments Unit

From ALMA [The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array](CL) via The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES) Presented by Manu Garcia, a friend from IAC-Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES) : “They confirm that Bernardelli-Bernstein is the largest comet in the Solar System”*

The European Southern Observatory [La Observatorio Europeo Austral] [Observatoire européen austral][Europäische Südsternwarte](EU)(CL)/National Radio Astronomy Observatory(US)/National Astronomical Observatory of Japan(JP) ALMA Observatory (CL).

From ALMA [The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array](CL)

via

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES)

Presented by

From Manu Garcia, a friend from IAC-Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES).

The universe around us.
Astronomy, everything you wanted to know about our local universe and never dared to ask.

Nicolás Lira
Education and Public Outreach Coordinator
Joint ALMA Observatory, Santiago – Chile
Phone: +56 2 2467 6519
Cell phone: +56 9 9445 7726
Email: nicolas.lira@alma.cl

Valeria Foncea
Education and Public Outreach Officer
Joint ALMA Observatory Santiago – Chile
Phone: +56 2 2467 6258
Cell phone: +56 9 7587 1963
Email: valeria.foncea@alma.cl

Daisuke Iono
Interim EA ALMA EPO officer
Observatory, Tokyo – Japan
Email: d.iono@nao.ac.jp

Bárbara Ferreira
ESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Phone: +49 89 3200 6670
Email: pio@eso.org

Amy C. Oliver
Public Information & News Manager
National Radio Astronomical Observatory (NRAO), USA
Phone: +1 434 242 9584
Email: aoliver@nrao.edu

This illustration shows the distant comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein as it might appear in the outer Solar System. Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is estimated to be about 1,000 times more massive than a typical comet, making it possibly the largest comet discovered in modern times. It has an extremely elongated orbit, traveling inward from the distant Oort Cloud over millions of years. It is the most distant comet discovered on its incoming path.Credit: LAD Bible.

4.4.22

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) participates in the study with the ALMA radio telescope (Chile) of comet C/2014 UN271 Bernardinelli-Bernstein, which has made it possible to determine its size and albedo, or surface reflectivity. At about 137 kilometers, it is the largest known comet, and perhaps one of the most pristine.

“Observations with the ALMA radio telescope (Chile) have made it possible to obtain its size, which amounts to about 137 kilometers,” says Pablo Santos-Sanz, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) who is participating in the work. This makes this object the largest comet discovered to date, with a diameter almost twice that of comet Hale-Bopp, and second only to centaur 95P/Chiron, an object that shows characteristics common to asteroids and asteroids. kites”.

The orbit of comet 2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) places its origin in the Oort cloud, a spherical cloud that surrounds the Solar System and is believed to be formed by the remains of the nebula that gave rise to the Sun and the planets four thousand six hundred million years ago (estimates suggest that it could extend from 0.03 to 3.16 light years away and contain billions of comets).

But this comet not only stands out for its size. Comets are small solid icy bodies that acquire their characteristic appearance when they approach the Sun, the ice sublimates and the coma and tail emerge. This, known as cometary activity, shows an increasing evolution as they approach the Sun and does not usually occur at long distances. However, the data suggests that comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein was already active before its detection in 2014, at a distance of about 35 AUs (an astronomical unit, or AU, is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun): that is, it could begin to develop its coma five AUs beyond Neptune, in the icy reaches of the Solar System.

The comet will not reach the inner regions of the Solar System. Its closest approach to Earth will take place in 2031, when it will be eleven astronomical units from the Sun (it would therefore not cross the orbit of Saturn). “Thus, in the same way that Comet Hale-Bopp is the archetypal comet with an orbit close to the Sun, Bernardelli-Bernstein would be the archetype of distant comets, whose activity is driven by supervolatile ice,” says Pablo Santos-Sanz (IAA -CSIC).

In addition, the study of the orbit indicates that in the past there was an approach to the Sun, in which the comet reached a distance of between 17 and 21 astronomical units. Thus, this object would never have been closer than that distance since its ejection from the Oort cloud, possibly making it one of the most pristine comets ever observed.

Finally, the work has made it possible to determine the Bernardinelli-Bernstein albedo, or surface reflectivity. “The surface of the nucleus of this giant comet has characteristics similar to the surfaces of other cometary nuclei, with a very low reflectivity, of the order of 5.3%. This albedo indicates that its surface is very dark, only a little more reflective than that of charcoal –explains Pablo Santos-Sanz (IAA-CSIC)–. It will be very interesting to study if its albedo changes after closest approach to the Sun, since it could gain brightness as happened with the nucleus of Comet Hale-Bopp”.

Science paper:
Astronomy & Astrophysics

*This post is based upon an article from IAA presented by Manu Garcia. If there is an article from ALMA it will be presented here.

See the full article here.

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

Welcome to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA). The IAA is an institute of The Spanish National Research Council[Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) (ES). The activities of the IAA (CSIC) are related to research in the field of Astrophysics and the development of instruments for telescopes and space vehicles. These webpages are intended to present our activities as well as useful information both for other professional institutions devoted to astrophysics research as well as for those interested in learning something more about the IAA and astrophysics in general.

From the front page on, an explanation is provided of the structure and organization of the IAA, followed by general information concerning our technological and scientific research in addition to all the activities we consider of general interest.

The pages of each department provide basic information: the staff, research lines, projects under way and research results. The navigator will also find more specific and varied information on each of the individual pages of the IAA staff.

Introduction
The IAA has as its general scientific objective to help increase the bulk of knowledge about our universe, from the closest at hand, our solar system, to an overall scale of the entire universe, improving descriptions and analysing the physical processes that take place there. The nature of this aim demands a multi-disciplinary approach, requiring a combination of theory, observation and technology in different areas of physics and engineering. Although the IAA is a centre for pursuing basic science, we are aware of the role that astrophysics plays as a user and producer of new technologies.

To achieve our overarching objective, different scientific programmes are being undertaken with specific aims and timetables, encompassing four large areas of astrophysics: the solar system; star formation, structure and evolution; galaxy structure and evolution; and cosmology. Basic science has been and continues to be the motor for training scientific and technical staff, as well as for stimulating the development of other disciplines. The history of the IAA clearly depicts the observational function of the centre.

The telescopes installed in the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (OSN), reflect a scientific policy with the clear objective of ensuring continued access to observational means to undertake far-reaching scientific projects.

IAA Observatorio de Sierra Nevada

This fact adds singularity to the centre and at the same time offers the challenge and incentive for research at the IAA. The design and construction of instruments for the OSN, as well as others to be carried in special space vehicles, not only serve as support for basic research by the different teams of the IAA, but also represent activity of prime importance for the appropriate combination of research and development.

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, IAA-CSIC] is a research institute funded by the High Council of Scientific Research of the Spanish government Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), and is located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. IAA activities are related to research in the field of astrophysics, and instrument development both for ground-based telescopes and for space missions. Scientific research at the Institute covers the solar system, star formation, stellar structure and evolution, galaxy formation and evolution and cosmology. The IAA was created as a CSIC research institute in July 1975. Presently, the IAA operates the Sierra Nevada Observatory, and (jointly with the also the The MPG Institute for Astronomy [MPG Institut für Astronomie](DE)) the Calar Alto Observatory.

Calar Alto Astronomical Observatory 3.5 meter Telescope, located in Almería province in Spain on Calar Alto, a 2,168-meter-high (7,113 ft) mountain in Sierra de Los Filabres(ES)
The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía is divided in the following departments, each with an (incomplete) outline of research avenues and groups:

Department of Extragalactic Astronomy
Violent Stellar Formation Group
AMIGA Group (Analysis of the interstellar Medium of Isolated Galaxies)
Department of Stellar Physics
Department of Radio Astronomy and Galactic Structure
Stellar Systems Group
Department of Solar System

The technological needs of IAA’s research groups are fulfilled by the Instrumental and Technological Developments Unit

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) (CL), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded in Europe by the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), in North America by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC) and in East Asia by the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan.

ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), which is managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) and on behalf of East Asia by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

ALMA is a time machine!

ALMA-In Search of our Cosmic Origins

From The University of Manchester (UK) and The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES) : “The start of the birth of planets in a binary star system observed”

From The University of Manchester (UK)

and

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES)

The start of the birth of planets in a binary star system observed.

Artist’s impression of a binary protostar. Credit: L. Calçada/The European Southern Observatory [La Observatorio Europeo Austral] [Observatoire européen austral][Europaiche Sûdsternwarte] (EU)(CL).

10 March, 2022

Astronomers have observed primordial material that may be giving birth to three planetary systems around a binary star in unprecedented detail.

Bringing together three decades of study, an international group of scientists have observed a pair of stars orbiting each other, to reveal that these stars are surrounded by disks of gas and dust. Research published today in The Astrophysical Journal, shows the material within the newly discovered disks could be the beginnings of new planet systems which in the future orbit the binary stars.

Using the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA), the scientific group has studied the binary star SVS 13, still in its embryonic phase.

National Radio Astronomy Observatory(US)Karl G Jansky Very Large Array located in central New Mexico on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, ~50 miles (80 km) west of Socorro. The VLA comprises twenty-eight 25-meter radio telescopes.

The European Southern Observatory [La Observatorio Europeo Austral] [Observatoire européen austral][Europäische Südsternwarte](EU)(CL)/National Radio Astronomy Observatory(US)/National Astronomical Observatory of Japan(JP) ALMA Observatory (CL).

This work has provided the best description available so far on a binary system in formation.

Models of planet formation suggest that planets form by the slow aggregation of ice and dust particles in protoplanetary disks around forming stars. Usually these models consider only single stars, such as the Sun. However, most stars form binary systems, in which two stars rotate around a common centre. Very little is yet known about how planets are born around these important twin star systems, in which the gravitational interaction between the two stars plays an essential role.

“Our results have revealed that each star has a disk of gas and dust around it and that, in addition, a larger disk is forming around both stars,” says Ana Karla Díaz-Rodríguez, a researcher at The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] – CSIC (ES) and The UK ALMA Regional Centre (UK-ARC) at The University of Manchester, who leads the work.

“This outer disk shows a spiral structure that is feeding matter into the individual disks, and in all of them planetary systems could form in the future. This is clear evidence for the presence of disks around both stars and the existence of a common disk in a binary system.”

The binary system SVS 13, consisting of two stellar embryos with a total mass similar to that of the Sun, is relatively close to us, about 980 light-years away in the Perseus molecular cloud allowing its detailed study. The two stars in the system are very close to each other, with a distance of only about ninety times that between the Earth and the Sun.

The work has made it possible to study the composition of gas, dust and ionized matter in the system. In addition, nearly thirty different molecules have been identified around both protostars, including thirteen complex organic molecules precursors of life (seven of them detected for the first time in this system). “This means that when planets begin to form around these two suns, the building blocks of life will be there,” says Ana Karla Díaz-Rodríguez (IAA-CSIC / UK-ARC).

The scientific team has used the observations of SVS 13 obtained by the VLA over thirty years, together with new data from ALMA, and has followed the motion of both stars over this period, which has allowed their orbit to be traced, as well as the geometry and orientation of the system, along with many fundamental parameters, such as the mass of the protostars, the mass of the disks, and their temperature. Gary Fuller of The University of Manchester, a collaborator on the project, says: “This work shows how careful, systematic studies of young stars can provide a remarkably detailed view of their structure and properties.“

“At the IAA we began studying this system twenty-five years ago. We were surprised when we discovered that SVS 13 was a radio binary, because only one star is seen in the optical. Normally, stellar embryos are detected in radio, but they only become visible at the end of the gestation process. It was very strange to discover a pair of twin stars where one of them seemed to have evolved much faster than the other. We designed several experiments to get more details and to find out if in such a case either of the stars could form planets. Now we have seen that both stars are very young, and that both can form planets,” says Guillem Anglada, a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) who is coordinating the studies of SVS 13.

SVS 13 has generated much debate in the scientific literature, as some studies consider it to be extremely young and others consider it to be in a later stage. This new study, probably the most complete study of a binary star system in formation, not only sheds light on the nature of the two protostars and their environment, but also provides crucial parameters for testing numerical simulations of the early stages of binary and multiple system formation.

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

Welcome to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA). The IAA is an institute of The Spanish National Research Council[Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) (ES). The activities of the IAA (CSIC) are related to research in the field of Astrophysics and the development of instruments for telescopes and space vehicles. These webpages are intended to present our activities as well as useful information both for other professional institutions devoted to astrophysics research as well as for those interested in learning something more about the IAA and astrophysics in general.

From the front page on, an explanation is provided of the structure and organization of the IAA, followed by general information concerning our technological and scientific research in addition to all the activities we consider of general interest.

The pages of each department provide basic information: the staff, research lines, projects under way and research results. The navigator will also find more specific and varied information on each of the individual pages of the IAA staff.

Introduction
The IAA has as its general scientific objective to help increase the bulk of knowledge about our universe, from the closest at hand, our solar system, to an overall scale of the entire universe, improving descriptions and analysing the physical processes that take place there. The nature of this aim demands a multi-disciplinary approach, requiring a combination of theory, observation and technology in different areas of physics and engineering. Although the IAA is a centre for pursuing basic science, we are aware of the role that astrophysics plays as a user and producer of new technologies.

To achieve our overarching objective, different scientific programmes are being undertaken with specific aims and timetables, encompassing four large areas of astrophysics: the solar system; star formation, structure and evolution; galaxy structure and evolution; and cosmology. Basic science has been and continues to be the motor for training scientific and technical staff, as well as for stimulating the development of other disciplines. The history of the IAA clearly depicts the observational function of the centre.

The telescopes installed in the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (OSN), reflect a scientific policy with the clear objective of ensuring continued access to observational means to undertake far-reaching scientific projects.

IAA Observatorio de Sierra Nevada

This fact adds singularity to the centre and at the same time offers the challenge and incentive for research at the IAA. The design and construction of instruments for the OSN, as well as others to be carried in special space vehicles, not only serve as support for basic research by the different teams of the IAA, but also represent activity of prime importance for the appropriate combination of research and development.

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, IAA-CSIC] is a research institute funded by the High Council of Scientific Research of the Spanish government Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), and is located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. IAA activities are related to research in the field of astrophysics, and instrument development both for ground-based telescopes and for space missions. Scientific research at the Institute covers the solar system, star formation, stellar structure and evolution, galaxy formation and evolution and cosmology. The IAA was created as a CSIC research institute in July 1975. Presently, the IAA operates the Sierra Nevada Observatory, and (jointly with the also the The MPG Institute for Astronomy [MPG Institut für Astronomie](DE)) the Calar Alto Observatory.

Calar Alto Astronomical Observatory 3.5 meter Telescope, located in Almería province in Spain on Calar Alto, a 2,168-meter-high (7,113 ft) mountain in Sierra de Los Filabres(ES)
The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía is divided in the following departments, each with an (incomplete) outline of research avenues and groups:

Department of Extragalactic Astronomy
Violent Stellar Formation Group
AMIGA Group (Analysis of the interstellar Medium of Isolated Galaxies)
Department of Stellar Physics
Department of Radio Astronomy and Galactic Structure
Stellar Systems Group
Department of Solar System

The technological needs of IAA’s research groups are fulfilled by the Instrumental and Technological Developments Unit

The University of Manchester (UK) is a public research university in the city of Manchester, England, formed in 2004 by the merger of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (renamed in 1966, est. 1956 as Manchester College of Science and Technology) which had its ultimate origins in the Mechanics’ Institute established in the city in 1824 and the Victoria University of Manchester founded by charter in 1904 after the dissolution of the federal Victoria University (which also had members in Leeds and Liverpool), but originating in Owens College, founded in Manchester in 1851. The University of Manchester is regarded as a red brick university, and was a product of the civic university movement of the late 19th century. It formed a constituent part of the federal Victoria University between 1880, when it received its royal charter, and 1903–1904, when it was dissolved.

The University of Manchester is ranked 33rd in the world by QS World University Rankings 2015-16. In the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities, Manchester is ranked 41st in the world and 5th in the UK. In an employability ranking published by Emerging in 2015, where CEOs and chairmen were asked to select the top universities which they recruited from, Manchester placed 24th in the world and 5th nationally. The Global Employability University Ranking conducted by THE places Manchester at 27th world-wide and 10th in Europe, ahead of academic powerhouses such as Cornell University, The University of Pennsylvania and The London School of Economics (UK) . It is ranked joint 56th in the world and 18th in Europe in the 2015-16 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, Manchester came fifth in terms of research power and seventeenth for grade point average quality when including specialist institutions. More students try to gain entry to the University of Manchester than to any other university in the country, with more than 55,000 applications for undergraduate courses in 2014 resulting in 6.5 applicants for every place available. According to the 2015 High Fliers Report, Manchester is the most targeted university by the largest number of leading graduate employers in the UK.

The university owns and operates major cultural assets such as the Manchester Museum, Whitworth Art Gallery, John Rylands Library and Jodrell Bank Observatory (UK) which includes the Grade I listed Lovell Telescope.

Jodrell Bank campus, U Manchester part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester (UK).

U Manchester Jodrell Bank Lovell Telescope.

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES) via Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC-Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES): “Distinct pulses captured in the giant magnetic flare from a neutron star”

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía] CSIC (ES)

via

Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC-Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES).

The universe around us.
Astronomy, everything you wanted to know about our local universe and never dared to ask.

22/12/2021 [Just today in social media.]

Among the neutron stars, objects that can contain half a million times the mass of the Earth in a diameter of about twenty kilometres, a small group with the strongest known magnetic field stands out: the magnetars. These objects, of which only thirty are known, undergo violent eruptions that are still poorly understood due to their unexpected nature and their short duration of only a few tenths of a second. A scientific group led by the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) publishes today in the journal Nature the study of an eruption in detail: they have managed to measure different oscillations, or pulses, in its brightness during the moments of highest energy, which are a crucial component to understand the giant flares of magnetars.

Even in an inactive state, magnetars can be a hundred thousand times more luminous than our Sun”, says Alberto J. Castro-Tirado, IAA-CSIC researcher who leads the study. But in the case of the flash we have studied, GRB200415, which occurred on 15 April 2020 and lasted only about a tenth of a second, the energy released is equivalent to the energy radiated by our Sun in a hundred thousand years. The observations revealed multiple pulses, with the first pulse appearing only around tens of microseconds, much faster than other extreme transients.

Eruptions in magnetars are thought to be due to instabilities in their magnetosphere or to a kind of “earthquake” in their crust, a rigid, elastic layer about a kilometre thick. “Regardless of the trigger, a type of waves will be created in the star’s magnetosphere, the Alfvén waves, which are well known in the Sun and which, while bouncing back and forth between the points at the base of its magnetic field lines, interact with each other and dissipate energy”, says Alberto J. Castro-Tirado (IAA-CSIC).

Artistic concept of a magnetar. Fuente: BCSS/Mt. Visual

The oscillations detected in the eruption are consistent with the emission produced by the interaction between Alfvén waves, whose energy is rapidly absorbed by the crust. Thus, in a few milliseconds the magnetic reconnection process ends and, therefore, so do the pulses detected in GRB200415, which disappeared 3.5 milliseconds after the main outburst. Analysis of the phenomenon has allowed us to estimate that the volume of the flare was similar to or even larger than that of the neutron star itself.

The flare was detected by the ASIM instrument on board the International Space Station, which was the only one out of seven that was able to record the main phase of the flare in its full energy range without saturation.

The ASIM Mission on the International Space Station. Credit: The European Space Agency [Agence spatiale européenne][Europäische Weltraumorganisation](EU).

The science team was able to resolve the temporal structure of the event, a truly complex task that involved more than a year of analysis for one second of data.

“The detection of quasi-periodic oscillations in GRB200415 has been challenging from a signal analysis point of view. The difficulty lies in the shortness of the signal, whose amplitude decays rapidly and is embedded in the background noise. And, being correlated noise, it is difficult to distinguish the signal from the noise. We owe this achievement to the sophisticated data analysis techniques that have been applied independently by the different members of the team, but it is also undoubtedly a technological achievement due to the excellent quality of the data provided by the ASIM instrument on board the International Space Station”, says Javier Pascual, a researcher at IAA-CSIC who participated in the work.

Castro-Tirado et al. Very-high-frequency oscillations in the main peak of a magnetar giant flare.

These flares had been detected in two of the thirty known magnetars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, but also in two others located in other galaxies. GRB2001415 would be the most distant magnetar flare captured to date, being located in the Sculptor group of galaxies about thirteen million light-years away.

“This flare has provided a crucial component in understanding how magnetic stresses are produced in and around a neutron star. Continuous monitoring of magnetars in nearby galaxies will help to understand this phenomenon, and will also pave the way to learn more about fast radio bursts, currently one of the most enigmatic phenomena in astronomy,” concludes Alberto J. Castro-Tirado (IAA-CSIC).

The work also involves researchers from The University of Valencia [Universitat de València](ES),The University of Cádiz [Universidad de Cádiz](ES) and The University of Malaga [Universidad de Malaga](ES), using data from the BOOTES robotic telescope network (led by Castro-Tirado) and the Gran Telescopio Canarias.
Gran Telescopio Canarias at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, in the Canaries (ES)

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

Welcome to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA). The IAA is an institute of The Spanish National Research Council[Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) (ES). The activities of the IAA (CSIC) are related to research in the field of Astrophysics and the development of instruments for telescopes and space vehicles. These webpages are intended to present our activities as well as useful information both for other professional institutions devoted to astrophysics research as well as for those interested in learning something more about the IAA and astrophysics in general.

From the front page on, an explanation is provided of the structure and organization of the IAA, followed by general information concerning our technological and scientific research in addition to all the activities we consider of general interest.

The pages of each department provide basic information: the staff, research lines, projects under way and research results. The navigator will also find more specific and varied information on each of the individual pages of the IAA staff.

Introduction
The IAA has as its general scientific objective to help increase the bulk of knowledge about our universe, from the closest at hand, our solar system, to an overall scale of the entire universe, improving descriptions and analysing the physical processes that take place there. The nature of this aim demands a multi-disciplinary approach, requiring a combination of theory, observation and technology in different areas of physics and engineering. Although the IAA is a centre for pursuing basic science, we are aware of the role that astrophysics plays as a user and producer of new technologies.

To achieve our overarching objective, different scientific programmes are being undertaken with specific aims and timetables, encompassing four large areas of astrophysics: the solar system; star formation, structure and evolution; galaxy structure and evolution; and cosmology. Basic science has been and continues to be the motor for training scientific and technical staff, as well as for stimulating the development of other disciplines. The history of the IAA clearly depicts the observational function of the centre.

The telescopes installed in the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (OSN), reflect a scientific policy with the clear objective of ensuring continued access to observational means to undertake far-reaching scientific projects.

IAA Observatorio de Sierra Nevada

This fact adds singularity to the centre and at the same time offers the challenge and incentive for research at the IAA. The design and construction of instruments for the OSN, as well as others to be carried in special space vehicles, not only serve as support for basic research by the different teams of the IAA, but also represent activity of prime importance for the appropriate combination of research and development.

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, IAA-CSIC] is a research institute funded by the High Council of Scientific Research of the Spanish government Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), and is located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. IAA activities are related to research in the field of astrophysics, and instrument development both for ground-based telescopes and for space missions. Scientific research at the Institute covers the solar system, star formation, stellar structure and evolution, galaxy formation and evolution and cosmology. The IAA was created as a CSIC research institute in July 1975. Presently, the IAA operates the Sierra Nevada Observatory, and (jointly with the also the The MPG Institute for Astronomy [MPG Institut für Astronomie](DE)) the Calar Alto Observatory.

Calar Alto Astronomical Observatory 3.5 meter Telescope, located in Almería province in Spain on Calar Alto, a 2,168-meter-high (7,113 ft) mountain in Sierra de Los Filabres(ES)
The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía is divided in the following departments, each with an (incomplete) outline of research avenues and groups:

Department of Extragalactic Astronomy
Violent Stellar Formation Group
AMIGA Group (Analysis of the interstellar Medium of Isolated Galaxies)
Department of Stellar Physics
Department of Radio Astronomy and Galactic Structure
Stellar Systems Group
Department of Solar System

The technological needs of IAA’s research groups are fulfilled by the Instrumental and Technological Developments Unit