National Institute for Astrophysics

Italian research institute

41°55′21″N 12°27′08″E / 41.92250°N 12.45222°E / 41.92250; 12.45222Websitewww.inaf.it

The National Institute for Astrophysics (Italian: Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, or INAF) is an Italian research institute in astronomy and astrophysics, founded in 1999. INAF funds and operates twenty separate research facilities, which in turn employ scientists, engineers and technical staff. The research they perform covers most areas of astronomy, ranging from planetary science to cosmology.^[1]

Research facilities

INAF coordinates the activities of twenty research units, nineteen in Italy and one in Spain:

Bologna Observatory
Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Bologna
Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna
Cagliari Observatory
Catania Observatory
Arcetri Observatory (Florence)
Brera Observatory (Milan)
Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Milano
Capodimonte Observatory (Naples)
Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova
Palermo Observatory
Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Palermo
Rome Observatory
Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Roma
Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario di Roma
Collurania-Teramo Observatory
Turin Observatory
Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario di Torino
Trieste Observatory
Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (Canary Islands, Spain)
Sardinia Radio Telescope (San Basilio, Sardinia)
Noto Radio Observatory (Noto, Sicily)

International partnerships

INAF is involved in scientific collaborations with several international institutions, including:

the European Southern Observatory (Italy has been an ESO member since 1982)
the astronomical observatories located in Canary Islands (Teide Observatory and Roque de los Muchachos Observatory)
the Large Binocular Telescope, in partnership with the United States and Germany
the Very Long Baseline Interferometry consortium
the European Space Agency (ESA)
the American National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA)

Notable figures

Giampaolo Vettolani, scientific director
Stefano Cristiani, board member
Nicolò D'Amico, president in 2015-2020

Projects

REM telescope with Milky Way in background

Projects include:

Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies, instrument for the ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin
Rapid Eye Mount telescope (REM)
Juno's JIRAM

References

^ "National Institute for Astrophysics—Home". INAF. Archived from the original on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
^ "Agreement Signed for E-ELT MAORY Adaptive Optics System". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-16.