Bibcode
Del Puerto, C.; Rodriguez, N.; Rosenberg, A.; Beckman, J. E.
Bibliographical reference
IAU General Assembly, Meeting #29, #2255561
Advertised on:
8
2015
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
1985 was a year of inauguration for the Instituto de Astrofísica
de Canarias (IAC). In that year its two observatories, the Observatorio
del Roque de los Muchachos, on the island of La Palma, (where its 10.4m
optical-NIR telescope vies with the world´s major instruments),
and the Observatorio del Teide, on the island of Tenerife, as well as
its headquarters in La Laguna, Tenerife, were all inaugurated. This
young institution has rapidly become the leading research centre for
astronomy in Spain and achieved research standards at a European and
world level. The 30th anniversary celebrations this year give
an opportunity to maximize its already very active outreach programmes.
In February two shows, featuring IAC researchers, and with astronomical
themes, were shown in the main theatre of the city of La Laguna, and
during the year further entertainment, collaborating with Canarian
musicians and artists, is planned. Two exhibitions have been designed
combining the anniversary with celebrations of the International Year of
Light: “Listen to the Universe”, in Tenerife, and
“Thirty Journeys around the Sun”, in La Palma, which will be
open to the public for most of the year. A new outreach magazine
“Parallaxes” will be launched by the IAC, in both paper and
digital editions, and will complement the current blog, and news
websites of the institute, as well as its communications on Facebook and
Twitter. Among the activities being organized in Tenerife will be the
formal naming of traffic circles with names of the telescopes at the
Observatories. In conjunction with the municipal wine cellars of the
local city of Tegueste a new Canarian wine produced by innovative
methods and with an astronomical motif on its label, is to be launched
during the year. All of these activities are in addition to the somewhat
more routine productions of videos on the research lines of the IAC,
including exoplanets, solar stellar, and interstellar physics, galaxies,
and cosmology.