General information
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Hosting OrganisationObservatorio de Sierra Nevada (IAA/CSIC)
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AdressParque Natural de Sierra Nevada Granada, España
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Contact Info:
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Phone
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Emaildireccion.osn@iaa.es
Description
The Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (OSN) is a high mountain observatory located at 2896m altitude in the Sierra Nevada National Park (Granada, Spain). It belongs to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), which operates and manages it. Its southernmost high-altitude location in continental Europe, together with the dry climatic conditions of Sierra Nevada, make the OSN an excellent place for carrying out, not only astronomical observations, but other experiments and studies. For this, in addition to the main building, there are secondary facilities which complete the available infrastructure.
Main equipment or Facilities
The OSN has a main building that shelters the living quarters and two optical telescopes with Ritchey-Chrétien configuration and two Nasmyth foci:
- 1.5 m telescope (T150), equipped with a commercial 4Mp CCD Peltier Camera
- 90 cm telescope (T90), equipped with a commercial 4Mp CCD Peltier Camera
Additionally, the smaller outbuildings house:
- SATI & MIMA, Fabry-Perot imaging interferometers measuring atmospheric airglow - five high-sensitivity CCD cameras, monitoring the sky for meteors and fireballs
- a GPS Topo-Iberia station
- a DIMM seeing monitor- an All-Sky Transmission Monitor, a set of four Sky Quality Meters and a TESS-4C sensor from the IAA Sky Quality Office
Projects under Development
A technical update of the Albireo spectrometer is under way. The instrument is expected to be back in the T150 west focus by 2023.
Technology Capabilities
The technical support and maintenance of the OSN is performed by its staff and the IAA’s Instrumental and Technological Development Unit (UDIT) in different areas:
- Electronics: control of the telescopes, domes and instruments developed in-house, complemented by design and development of circuits, power electronics or PCBs.
- Mechanics: development of mechanical structures, optomechanics, high precision positional systems and thermal analysis of mechanical components.
- Optics: optical design of instruments and components and regular maintenance of the telescopes’ mirrors and instrument optics. - Software: maintenance of data archives and control software for instrumentation.
Summary of Research Services
OSN provides astronomical observations in the optical using the cameras at both telescopes. The OSN Time Allocation Committee (TAC) evaluates the proposals for observing time twice a year. Besides standard open time proposals, the TAC evaluates Target of Oportunity proposals, that is, unpredictable observations that need quick response. A small fraction of time is also available to be assigned by the OSN director to unexpected and urgent observations of high scientific interest (Director’s Discretionary Time). There are three possible observing modes: service, remote and visitor. OSN also provides basic maintenance of instruments and experiments hosted at OSN in collaboration with other institutions and astronomical observations for master students of external universities.
Procurement process
As part of the Instituto de Astrofísica of Andalucía, the OSN procurement process is governed by the Royal Legislative Decree 3/2011, November 14th, which approved the consolidated text of the Spanish Law of Public Sector Contracts.