Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (German: Institute for Astrophysics of the Canaries ) is an astrophysical research institute on the Canary Islands . It consists of the following areas:
.jpg)
Research units
Astrophysical Research Institute
This is the main area of the institute in San Cristóbal de La Laguna , Tenerife , which houses most of the research technology, the administration and the offices of the scientists.
Observatory on the Teide
The Observatorio del Teide on Tenerife at an altitude of 2400 msnm , which mainly combines the solar telescopes GREGOR , VTT, and THEMIS, as well as a large number of smaller night telescopes and experiments.
Observatory on the Roque de los Muchachos
The Roque de los Muchachos observatory is located on the neighboring island of La Palma in the municipality of Garafía and houses the large night telescopes as well as the SST and DOT solar telescopes. The observatory is located at an altitude of over 2400 msnm . It was introduced in 1985 and is the largest concentration of telescopes in the Northern Hemisphere.
history
The Observatorio del Teide was founded in 1959 and the first telescope was installed in 1964 thanks to the support of the University of Bordeaux . In 1975 the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias was founded by the Instituto de Astrofísica, as part of the University of La Laguna. In 1979, Spain signed the astrophysics cooperation agreement with Denmark , Sweden and the United Kingdom to bring modern telescopes to the observatories, this cooperation is known as the European Northern Observatory .
In 1982 the IAC entered into a partnership with the University of La Laguna and the Center for Scientific Research, supported by the Government of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. The Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos was equipped with the first telescopes. Gradually, Belgium , Germany , France , Italy and Norway joined the agreement. The official inauguration of the IAC took place in 1985.
In the early 1990s, Spain developed and built the first telescope, the IAC-80. In 1994 an agreement was reached with the European Space Agency ( ESA ) to install a telescope in the Observatorio del Teide. In 2000, land in Breña Baja (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) was acquired for the Centro Común de Astrofísica en la Palma (CALP) , which brought the island a better infrastructure so that the observatory can be easily reached.
In 1994, Grantecan SA was founded for the Gran Telescopio Canarias with the support of the governments of the Canary Islands and Spain.
Some important discoveries from the IAC
- 1992 - first possible black hole in our Milky Way
- 1995 - first brown dwarf , "Teide 1" in the Pleiades
- 2001 - Black hole near our Milky Way galaxy
Honorary President
In 2016, the English scientist Stephen Hawking was appointed honorary professor at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.