The first meeting of the major astronomical observatories in Spain is held in La Palma

Group photo of RIA Congress participants

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From Monday 23rd to Thursday 26th October, the first meeting of the large astronomical observatories in Spain will be held in the town of Los Cancajos, La Palma. Most of them are scientific projects belonging to the map of the Singular Scientific-Technical Facilities (ICTS) of Spain, grouped in the field of Astrophysics under the coordination of the Astronomy Infrastructure Network (RIA).

In this first edition, the participants are the Centro Astronómico Hispano en Andalucía (CAHA), the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GRANTECAN), the Institute de Radiaoastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM), the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (OAJ), the Observatorio de Yebes (OY) and the Observatorios de Canarias del Teide (OT) and del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM), managed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC).

This conference is funded through the RED2022-134688-I project of Research Networks 2022 in its ICTS Networks modality of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, with contributions from the Gran Telescopio de Canarias and the Cabildo de La Palma.

On the one hand, the coordinator of the RIA, the astrophysicist Martín Guerrero Roncel from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, emphasises that "this is a novel congress because, for the first time, engineers and technicians from most of the large Spanish astronomical facilities are coming together". "The aim of the meeting is to promote the exchange of ideas in different fields such as scientific and technical operations, new technological developments, protection of the sky, and sustainability," he concludes.

On the other hand, the director of the Gran Telescopio Canarias, Romano Corradi, emphasises that "as the main hosts of the event we hope that it will be the springboard to effectively share technical achievements, as well as problems and solutions, a common framework of collaboration that will improve the exploitation of our telescopic facilities, remembering that in Spain we have some of the best sites in the world for observing the night sky".

The meeting has allowed the technical teams of these observatories and institutions to share their developments and solutions in search of synergies that generate advantages in the coordination, use, development and exploitation of these telescopic facilities for a better and more efficient use of the magnificent quality of the Spanish skies.

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Congreso sobre misiones espaciales de física solar y heliosférica en EuropaOrganizado por el IAC y patrocinado por la Agencia Europea del Espacio (ESA), en el Centro de Congresos del Puerto de la Cruz se celebrará del 23 al 27 de marzo
El Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) organiza, bajo el patrocinio de la Agencia Europea del Espacio, el congreso internacional "A Crossroads for European Solar and Heliospheric Physics: Recent Achievements and Future Mission Possibilities" ("Una encrucijada para la Física Solar y Heliosférica en Europa: avances recientes y posibilidades para futuras misiones"), que tendrá lugar la semana del 23 al 27 de marzo próximos en el Centro de Congresos del Puerto de la Cruz (Tenerife). Organizadores científicos del congreso son el Prof. Eric Priest, de la Universidad de St. Andrews (Escocia)
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