International collaborations

The National Astronomical Observatory (OAN) through the National Geographic Institute (IGN) takes part in a number of international collaborations, developing their research in the field of radio astronomy.

Institute of Millimeter Radio Astronomy (IRAM)

The Institute of Millimeter Radio Astronomy (IRAM) is a French-German-Spanish institution devoted to scientific research and technological development in the field of millimeter radio astronomy. IRAM maintains and develops two of the most powerful radio observatories in the world: the 30-meter single-dish telescope located on Pico Veleta near Granada in Spain, and the NOEMA interferometer, an array of twelve 15-meter antennas in the French Alps.

IRAM´s main headquarters and central laboratories are located in Grenoble. Another headquarter in Granada serves a an operational base for the Pico Veleta 30-meter radio telescope. The National Geographic Institute, as a member institution, receives a fraction of the total observing time offered in an internationally open competition. Moreover, the National Geographic Institute is working toward a gender-balance approach in all of the IRAM executive meetings and technical councils.

 

30-meter radio telescope in Pico Veleta (Granada) ©IRAM

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)

ALMA was built as the most ambitious observatory of millimeter radio astronomy for the 21st century. It is the result of a global partnership including Europe, North America and East Asia to build a radio interferometer in the Atacama desert (Chile) located at more than 5,000 meters of altitude.

The interferometer is composed of 66 12-meter antennas, each of them operating in coordination to simulate a giant 16-kilometer diameter radio telescope. OAN and Yebes Observatory’s involvement in ALMA has allowed OAN astronomers to collaborate in a full range of ALMA activities, not only scientificcally, but also in the technical instrumentation and management fields.

ALMA is the most complex ground-based telescope ever built. It is funded by three large international consortia: (16 European countries including Spain), EEUU/Canada, and Japan/Korea/Taiwan | ALMA/ESO/NRAO/NAOJ.

 

The European VLBI Network (EVN))

The European VLBI Network (EVN) is a network of radio telescopes located mainly in Europe and Asia, with additional antennas in South Africa and Puerto Rico, which performs very high angular resolution observations. The IGN is actively involved in the EVN since 1994 through its 40-meter diameter telescope, located at the Yebes Observatory.

 

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

JIVE is an international consortium consisting of six member countries: France, Latvia, the Netherlands, Spain (represented by the IGN), Sweden and the United Kingdom. JIVE’s main task is to provide support to the world-wide European VLBI Network (EVN) user community.

 

Square Kilometer Array (SKA)

The OAN scientific team is collaborating on the preparatory work for the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), an international project involving more than 20 countries with the aim of building a large telescope at millimetre wavelengths. The SKA will be made up of thousands of single-dish antennaes and aperture arrays, which will simulate a giant radio telescope. Its ultimate goal is to achieve a collecting area equivalent to one square kilometer (one million square meters).

 

Recreation of the central core, covering about a 5-kilometer diameter containing hundreds of dish antennas and many others of ‘aperture array’ kind in Australia and South Africa. | SKA.