Instituto de AstrofÃsica de Canarias
The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ( in German: Astrophysical Institute of the Canaries ) is an astrophysical research institute in the Canary Islands. It is composed of the following areas:
Research Units
Astrophysical Research Institute
This is the main area of the Institute in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, home to most of the research technology, management and the offices of scientists.
Observatory at Teide
The Observatorio del Teide on Tenerife in 2400 msnm height that summarizes mainly the solar telescopes GREGOR, VTT and THEMIS, as well as a number of smaller telescopes and night experiments.
Observatory of the Roque de los Muchachos
The Roque- de-los Muchachos Observatory is located on the island of La Palma in the community Garafía and houses the big night telescopes and solar telescopes SST and DOT. 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 installed in 1964 thanks to the support of the University of Bordeaux. In 1975, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias was through the Instituto de Astrofísica as a part of the University of La Laguna was founded. In 1979, Spain the Treaty cooperation in astrophysics with Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom to bring modern telescopes at the observatories, this cooperation is called the European Northern Observatory.
1982 was the IAC a partnership, supported by the Government of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, with the University of La Laguna and the Centre of Scientific Research in. The Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos was equipped with the first telescopes. Gradually, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and Norway joined the arrangements. In 1985, the official opening of the IAC was held.
Developed in the early 1990s and built the first telescope Spain, the IAC- 80th 1994 an agreement on the installation of a telescope with the European Space Agency ( ESA) in the Observatorio del Teide has been made. 2000 in Brena Baja Country (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) acquired for the Centro de Astrofísica en la Palma Common Market ( CALP ), which gave the island a better infrastructure to reach the observatory well.
In 1994, the company was Grantecan S. A. established for the Gran Telescopio Canarias, with the support of the governments of the Canary Islands and Spain.