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The National Institute for Astrophysics ( it, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, or INAF) is an Italian
research institute A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...
in
astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galax ...
and
astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the he ...
, 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 Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their ...
to
cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...
.


Research facilities

INAF coordinates the activities of twenty research units, nineteen in Italy and one in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
: * Bologna Observatory * Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Bologna * Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna *
Cagliari Observatory The Cagliari Observatory ( it, Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari, or OAC) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Italy's Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (National Institute for Astrophysics, INAF). It is located 20 km away ...
*
Catania Observatory The Catania Observatory ( it, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania) is an astronomical observatory in the city of Catania, on the island of Sicily in southern Italy. It is operated by INAF, the National Institute for Astrophysics. See also * List ...
*
Arcetri Observatory The Arcetri Observatory ( it, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri) is an astrophysical observatory located in the hilly area of Arcetri on the outskirts of Florence, Italy. It is located close to Villa Il Gioiello, the residence of Galileo Galile ...
(Florence) *
Brera Observatory The Brera Observatory ( it, Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera) is an astronomical observatory in the Brera district of Milan, Italy. It was built in the historic Palazzo Brera in 1764 by the Jesuit astronomer Roger Boscovich. Following the sup ...
(Milan) * Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Milano *
Capodimonte Observatory The Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte ( it, Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, italic=no) is the Neapolitan department of Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (National Institute for Astrophysics, INAF), the most important Italian instit ...
(Naples) * Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova *
Palermo Observatory The Giuseppe S. Vaiana Astronomical Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, housed inside the Palazzo dei Normanni. It is one of the research facilities of the National Institute of Astrophysics. The observa ...
* Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Palermo *
Rome Observatory The Astronomical Observatory of Rome (''Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma'' in Italian) is one of twelve Astronomical Observatories in Italy. The main site of the Observatory is Monte Porzio Catone. Part of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica s ...
* Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Roma * Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario di Roma *
Collurania-Teramo Observatory The Collurania Observatory, also Teramo Observatory, ( it, Osservatorio Astronomico di Collurania "Vincenzo Cerulli"), is an astronomical observatory located in Teramo, in Abruzzo region of central Italy. It was founded by Vincenzo Cerulli in 1 ...
*
Turin Observatory The Observatory of Turin ( it, Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino, links=no, also known as Pino Torinese; obs. code: 022) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics ( it, Istituto Nazionale ...
* Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario di Torino *
Trieste Observatory Astronomical Observatory of Trieste ( it, Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste or OAT) is an astronomical center of studies located in the city of Trieste in northern Italy. Origins The observatory traces its origins from the Nautical School f ...
*
Telescopio Nazionale Galileo The Galileo National Telescope, ( it, Telescopio Nazionale Galileo; TNG; code: Z19) is a 3.58-meter Italian telescope, located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The TNG is operated ...
( Canary Islands, Spain) *
Sardinia Radio Telescope The Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) is 64-metre fully steerable radio telescope near San Basilio, Province of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Completed in 2011, it is a collaboration between the Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna, the Cagliari Ob ...
( San Basilio,
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian language, Italian, Corsican language, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese dialect, Algherese and Catalan languag ...
) *
Noto Radio Observatory The Noto VLBI Station is a radio observatory located on Sicily, southern Italy, outside the city of Noto. The facility is operated by the Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna. The antenna is a 32-metre diameter paraboloid fitted with an activ ...
(
Noto Noto ( scn, Notu; la, Netum) is a city and in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and it ...
,
Sicily Sicily ( it, Sicilia , ) is the list of islands in the Mediterranean, largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. The Strait of Messina divides it from the region of Calabria in Southern Italy. I ...
)


International partnerships

INAF is involved in scientific collaborations with several international institutions, including: *the
European Southern Observatory The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 member states for ground-based ast ...
(Italy has been an ESO member since 1982) *the astronomical observatories located in Canary Islands (
Teide Observatory Teide Observatory ( es, Observatorio del Teide), IAU code 954, is an astronomical observatory on Mount Teide at , located on Tenerife, Spain. It has been operated by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias since its inauguration in 1964. It beca ...
and
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory Roque de los Muchachos Observatory ( es, Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, ORM) is an astronomical observatory located in the municipality of Garafía on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The observatory site is operated ...
) *the
Large Binocular Telescope The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) is an optical telescope for astronomy located on Mount Graham, in the Pinaleno Mountains of southeastern Arizona, United States. It is a part of the Mount Graham International Observatory. When using both ...
, in partnership with the United States and Germany *the
Very Long Baseline Interferometry Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) is a type of astronomical interferometry used in radio astronomy. In VLBI a signal from an astronomical radio source, such as a quasar, is collected at multiple radio telescopes on Earth or in space. Th ...
consortium *the
European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...
(ESA) *the American
National Aeronautic and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
(NASA)


Notable figures

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


Projects

Projects include: * Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies, instrument for the
ExoMars ExoMars (Exobiology on Mars) is an astrobiology programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). The goals of ExoMars are to search for signs of past life on Mars, investigate how the Martian water and geochemical environment varies, investigate ...
rover ''
Rosalind Franklin Rosalind Elsie Franklin (25 July 192016 April 1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, c ...
'' *
Rapid Eye Mount telescope The Rapid Eye Mount telescope (REM) is a fully automatic, 60 cm aperture telescope located at ESO's La Silla Observatory at 2,400 metres altitude on the edge of the Atacama Desert in Chile. The telescope's aim is to catch the afterglows of gam ...
(REM) *Juno's JIRAM


See also

*
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare The Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN; "National Institute for Nuclear Physics") is the coordinating institution for nuclear, particle, theoretical and astroparticle physics in Italy. History INFN was founded on 8 August 1951, to furt ...
(INFN) *
French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...
(CNRS)


References


External links


Official website of INAFPublic and press website of INAFWebsite of the Italian Telescopio Nazione GalileoWebsite of the Large Binocular Telescope
( Arizona, US)
Italian Astronomical Archive CenterVObs.it: Italian Virtual Observatory
Research institutes in Italy Astrophysics institutes Rome Q. XV Della Vittoria 1999 establishments in Italy {{italy-org-stub