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Istituto italiano di astrofisica - national institute for astrophisics

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Highlights

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.
Thanks to the HARPS-N spectrograph, the TNG can see Venus
TThe HARPS-N spectrograph succeeded in measuring from the Earth the velocity of the clouds in the atmosphere of Venus thanks to its high precision, competing with the Japanese Akatsuki probe, which has recently begun to study the atmosphere of the second planet.
The X-ray Universe 2017
The symposium (Rome, 6-9 June 2017) is the fifth meeting in the series of the international symposia "The X-ray Universe". The intention is to gather a general collection of research in high energy astrophysics. The symposium will provide a showcase for results, discoveries and expectations from current and future X-ray missions.
IXPE mission: Italy and NASA for new X-ray astronomy
NASA has announced that it is funding a new mission to study the high-energy Universe: it will be called IXPE (Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer) and will allow astronomers to explore with unprecedented details some of the most extreme astronomic objects, including stellar and supermassive black holes, neutron stars and pulsars. The mission, scheduled for the end of 2020, will count on a considerable Italian contribution through the Italian Space Agency(ASI), the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) and the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF).
Most accurate 3D map of the Universe developed
A successful result obtained by the international team of the VIPERS (VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey) project, coordinated by the National institute for Astrophysics (INAF)
The new frontiers in the knowledge of the Universe. An interview with Nichi D’Amico
How did our Universe evolve? Is there life outside of Earth? What is the nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy making up 95% of the Universe? The answers to these and other great scientific questions are today entrusted to powerful telescopes located on Earth and in Space, which are equipped with important, “made in Italy”, technologies developed by the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). ResearchItaly, the portal of Italian research, talked to the President of INAF, Nichi D’Amico, about current and future research projects and their potential impact on the economic and social system of our country.
Fifty thousand orbits for AGILE, the all-Italian satellite
On 19 December 2016, at 06:08:53 UTC (+1 in Italy), a few months after celebrating its ten years in orbit, the AGILE satellite reached the significant milestone of 50 thousand orbits around the Earth since the day of its launch, 23 April 2007.
ExoMars mission sends first “spectacular” images from Mars
The CaSSIS team – explained Co-Principal Investigator Gabriele Cremonese from the INAF Observatory of Padua – is also working on the development of a software that makes 3D models from the images provided by the stereoscopic camera.
The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics in second place in the world ranking of Nature
The scientific journal Nature has announced in recent days the list of the 100 best in the world scientific institutions with regard to international collaboration and scientific production: the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics is in second place overall.

MeerKAT+: the MeerKAT Extension

Feb 21, 2024

MeerKAT+: the MeerKAT Extension The handover of the first dish of the MeerKAT extension signals an important milestone for the SKA-MID construction

The first discoveries of the Webb space telescope in Rome: public lecture on 29 February

Feb 21, 2024

The first discoveries of the Webb space telescope in Rome: public lecture on 29 February On Thursday 29 February at 6 pm, Prof. Roberto Maiolino of the University of Cambridge (UK) will hold a public lecture on the theme "The invisible Universe revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope" at the Department of Physics of Sapienza University of Rome

The AGILE satellite re-entered the atmosphere

Feb 14, 2024

The AGILE satellite re-entered the atmosphere After 17 years of thriving operations, the AGILE Italian scientific satellite re-entered the atmosphere, thus ending its intense activity as a hunter of some of the most energetic cosmic sources in the Universe that emit gamma and X-rays