* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Calar Alto Observatory

Blobrana · L

The space telescope Herschel is the largest space-borne observatory to date, carrying the biggest astronomical mirror ever launched into orbit. Calar Alto Observatory has participated in a way in this challenging project of the European Space Agency as the company that built the telescope, EADS Astrium (Toulouse, France), relied on Calar Alto facilities and staff to perform the critical operation of applying the reflective aluminium coating to the mirror.

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Blobrana · L

The quality of the night sky at Calar Alto Observatory has been extensively analysed using many different observational techniques, and with data gathered between 2004 and 2007. The conclusions indicate that Calar Alto is a dark site with a considerable fraction of useful nights for astronomical observation. The sharpness of the images (what astronomers call "the seeing") and the overall properties of the night sky at Calar Alto place this observatory among the best sites for astronomical observations.

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Blobrana · L

Call for letters of intent for the construction of the next generation instrument for CAHA 3.5m telescope
Calar Alto is looking for competitive science cases and associated instrumentation concepts for its flagship telescope, the CAHA 3.5m. It is not expected that the current observatory mode of operation (short programs addressing all science cases) will remain in the future, but that high impact science cases requiring large allocations of time will dominate the schedule.

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