- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias is an astrophysical research institute located in
Tenerife in theCanary Islands ,Spain . It was founded in 1975 at the University of La Laguna.It operates two astronomical observatories in the Canary Islands:
*Roque de los Muchachos Observatory onLa Palma
*Observatorio del Teide onTenerife .Components of the IAC
Instituto de Astrofísica
The Instituto de Astrofísica, the administrative and research center of IAC, is located in the town of
San Cristóbal de La Laguna on the island ofTenerife .Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos
The Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos is located in the
Garafía municipality on the island ofLa Palma , at the edge of theParque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente . The Observatory is at an altitude of 2,400 m. It was inaugurated in 1985, and is the largest concentration oftelescope s in the northern hemisphere.Observatorio del Teide
The
Observatorio del Teide is located in the Izaña region, on the island ofTenerife at an altitude of 2,400 m. It was founded in 1959 by the University of La Laguna.The two observatories, together with the Instituto de Astrofísica, constitute the
European Northern Observatory .History of the IAC
The Observatorio del Teide was founded in 1959, and brought the first telescope to the area in 1964, thanks to an agreement with 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 'Agreement and Protocol of Cooperation in Astrophysics' withDenmark ,Sweden , and theUnited Kingdom , which brought modern telescopes to the observatories.In 1982, the IAC became a public partnership, operated by the government, the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, the University of La Laguna and the Superior Center of Scientific Research. The Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos was equipped with the first installations and telescopes, and little by little the number increased when those coming from
Germany ,Finland ,France andNorway were included in the agreements. Later, more countries were included. In 1985 the official inauguration of the facilities of the IAC took place.In the early 1990s, the first telescope developed and built entirely in Spain, the
IAC-80 , arrived. In 1994 an agreement was reached with theEuropean Space Agency for the installation in theObservatorio del Teide of a telescope. In 2000, extra land was acquired in Breña Baja (La Palma ) for the future Centro Común de Astrofísica en la Palma (CALP), which will allow the island to be equipped with a better infrastructure to support the observatory.In 1994, the company Grantecan, S.A. was established for the construction of the
Gran Telescopio Canarias , supported by the governments of theCanary Islands and Spain. This allowed the construction of the telescope to begin in 1998, with a future site onLa Palma . This telescope, once finished, will be one of the largest and most advanced in the world.ome important discoveries of the IAC
*Discovered the first possible
black hole in ourgalaxy (1992).
*Located the cosmosomas in the background microwave radiation (1994).
*Found "Teide 1", the firstbrown dwarf , in Pleiades (1995).
*Discovered the first black hole in the vicinity of our galaxy (2001).The Sky of the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands are a preferred place for astronomical observation due to their climate and the transparency of the sky. Because of their high altitude (2400 m above sea level), the observatories are above the cloud bank and enjoy a clear atmosphere with little
turbulence , both conditions favorable for sky observation. The favorable climate conditions allow astronomical research to be done throughout most of the year.Preserving the Sky
To maintain the preferred conditions for observation, the "Law on the Protection of the Atmospheric Quality of the IAC Observatories" was enacted in 1988. This law, which affects the islands of Tenerife and La Palma, identifies and attempts to prevent four distinct types of sky contamination: light pollution, radioelectric pollution, atmospheric contamination, and air traffic pollution near the observatories. To reduce these types of sky contamination, the act requires that:
*Illumination is reduced after midnight.
*Radio stations are regulated so as not to interfere with the observatories.
*Industry or other activities that could contaminate the air are prohibited above 1500 m in altitude.
*Air routes above La Palma and Tenerife are regulated.The IAC established the "Sky Quality Protection Technical Office" to enforce these regulations.
International Collaboration
Members of the CCI
*
Belgium
*Denmark
*France
*Germany
*Italy
*Norway
*Spain
*Sweden
*United Kingdom Other Participating Countries
*
Armenia
*Finland
*Ireland
*Netherlands
*Poland
*Portugal
*Russia
*Taiwan
*Ukraine
*United States External links
* [http://www.iac.es/ IAC Homepage]
* [http://www.iac.es/eno/eno.htm European Northern Observatory]
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