Highlights

Theseus Workshop, Napoli, 5-6 Oct 2017

The aim of this Workshop is to collect the several astrophysical communities involved and interested in the scientific goals, and related technology, of Theseus, in order to review the status of the project and further discuss and refine the expected scientific return for the several fields of cosmology and astrophysics on which this mission would have an important impact.

Science with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The updated science case for the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, Science with the Cherenkov Telescope Array, became available for download in English or Spanish on the CTA website library and arXiv

Space, ASI’s Sardinia Deep Space Antenna inaugurated

The SDSA is located at the Sardinia Radio Telescope-SRT: the large radio telescope for the study of the Universe, situated near Cagliari and developed by the National Institute for Astrophysics-INAF in collaboration with ASI, Regione Sardegna and the Ministry of Education, University and Research-MIUR.

Carina Nebula, INAF identifies new star formations

The Gaia-ESO Survey: Global properties of clusters Trumpler 14 and 16 in the Carina nebula study conducted by Francesco Damiani from INAF of Palermo, involving a number of researchers from the INAF observatories of Arcetri, Bologna, Catania, Padua and Palermo, has been recently published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

2017 GAL Hassin Award to Battiston and D’Amico

This year, the prestigious award of the GAL Hassin Foundationhas been awarded to two major names of Italian astronomy: Prof. Roberto Battiston, President of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), “for his achievements in fundamental and astroparticle physics” and to Prof. Nicolò D’Amico, President of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), “for his achievements in radioastronomy and in particular in the study of pulsars”.

INAF contributes to the development of the African Vlbi array

Italy will contribute with INAF and its researchers Alessandro Orfei and Marcello Giroletti to the development of the AVN-African Vlbi Network, the new African Vlbi-Very Long Baseline Interferometry array equipped with a technology that uses several radiotelescopes, one far from the other, in a simultaneous and coordinated way.

ISSI selected two projects by INAF researchers

Two projects coordinated by INAF researchers have been selected by the Swiss International Space Science Institute-ISSI to exploit the opportunity that every year is offered to research projects to promote international collaboration and exchange of knowledge among researchers.

Job Announcement: Scientific Director and Administration Responsible of FGG

The Board (Patronato) of Fundacion Galileo Galilei - INAF (FGG), manager of the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), invites applications for the position of "Scientific Director and Administration Responsible of FGG". Applications received by 31 August 2017 will be given full consideration.

Position of the Director General for the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory

The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) is searching for a Director General to lead the organization. Applications should be submitted by September 1st, 2017

Italian researcher led an international team that observed small nearby galaxies

A team of researchers, led by Claudia Cicone (Inaf), has observed a sample of small nearby galaxies.

Farewell to Giovanni Bignami

Great astrophysicist and former President of INAF and ASI, Bignami passed away suddenly while in Madrid where he was carrying out his research activities.

INAF researcher involved in the discovery of a millisecond pulsar

An international team of astronomers led by Ivan Zolotukhin of the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP) of Toulouse, also including Matteo Bachetti, a researcher of the INAF in Cagliari, has discovered that this pulsar is at the beginning of the recycle phase, i.e. the process that causes slow and "turned-off” neutron stars to turn on again as “millisecond pulsar”.

Cassini Scientist for a Day: the competition for young scientists sets new records

New record numbers for the 15th edition of Cassini Scientist for a Day, the international competition launched by NASA and promoted in Europe by the European Space Agency (ESA), open to lower and upper secondary school students. In Italy, 181 students participated in the competition, sending a total of 81 essays to a panel of researchers and experts in science communication.

Matteucci Medal awarded to Marco Tavani

The Italian National Academy of Sciences has awarded Marco Tavani, National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), the Matteucci Medal, the award for Italian and foreign physicists for the fundamental contribution made to the progress of science through their works or discoveries.

Italian researchers participated in the discovery of a distant galaxy at the edges of the Universe

An international research team led by researcher Austin Hoag, University of California, which included Laura Pentericci, an astronomer at the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF)in Rome, together with Italian researchers Tommaso Treu, University of California-Los Angeles, and Michele Trenti, University of Melbourne in Australia, has discovered a small and faint galaxy at the very edges of the Universe.

7th “Paolo Farinella" Prize, 2017

To honor the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), an extraordinary scientist and person, a prize has been established in recognition of significant contributions given in the fields of interest of Paolo, which span from planetary sciences to space geodesy, fundamental physics, science popularization, security in space, weapons control and disarmament.

An INAF study provides new assumptions on oscillation in star layers

A team of researchers led by Enrico Corsaro, fellow of the AstroFIt2 programme at INAF in Catania, has recently published a study in Nature Astronomy which shows the relationship between the orientation of the stellar-spin axis and the environment where they formed.

INAF researchers participate in the discovery of two Super Earths

Two massive rocky planets 21 light-years from us, the closest known among those transiting in front of their parent star, have been detected and studied thanks to TNG Galileo National Telescope observations.

Risparmio e vedo il cielo. INAF joins the “M’illumino di meno” campaign

On 24 February, on the occasion of the Energy Saving Day 2017, the National Institute for Astrophysics – INAF has joined the M’illumino di Meno campaign launched by Radio Rai 2 show Caterpillar, now in its thirteenth year, which renews the invitation to turn off the lights in squares, private and public lightings across Italy.

First phase of Astronomy Olympiad organized by INAF and SAIT now underway

On 14 February, the inter-regional phase of XV Italian Astronomy Olympiad attended by 850 students (435 for the junior category (14 to 15 years) and 415 for the senior category (16 to 17 years), took place in 14 Italian cities with the aim of qualifying to the national final that will be held in Cremona in April.