General information
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Hosting OrganisationObservatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre
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AdressPlaza San Juan, 1, Planta 2, 44001 Terue
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Contact Info:
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Phone
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Emailcefca@cefca.es
Description
The Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (OAJ) is an astronomical observatory built and operated by the Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón (CEFCA). It is located at an altitude of 1956m within the municipality of Arcos de las Salinas (Teruel, Spain). The observatory’s main purpose is the compilation of large-scale multi-filter astronomical surveys used as the basis for leading-edge research on astrophysics and cosmology.
More information: http://oaj.cefca.es
Main equipment or Facilities
The observatory is fundamentally structured around two large field-of-view, world-class optical telescopes:
- Javalambre Survey Telescope (JST250), a 2.55 m aperture, F#3.5 alt-azimuthal telescope designed to optimize image quality over the 3 degrees diameter field of view. The main scientific instrument is JPCam, a 1.2Gpixel instrument conceived to carry out the J-PAS survey. JPCam is equipped with a mosaic of 14 9.2k-by-9.2k, 10μm pixel detectors plus 12 auxiliary detectors for auto-guiding and image quality control. The cryostat is actuated by a hexapod system to optimise optical alignment during operation. The instrument, that admits up to 70 filters, began its science observations in the spring of 2023.
- Javalambre Auxiliary Survey Telescope (JAST80), an 83 cm, F#4.5 telescope that provides a 2 degrees diameter field of view. The telescope is equipped with T80Cam, a panoramic CCD camera conceived to carry out the J-PLUS survey.
Projects under Development
The auxiliary detectors of JPCam are being commissioned to improve observing efficiency. These detectors are used for auto-guiding and image quality control.
The Global Observatory Control System (GOCS) is a global tool under development to manage, monitor, control and maintain all observatory systems including, not only astronomical, but infrastructure and general facilities as well.
Technology Capabilities
The main OAJ technology capabilities are:
- Coating facility: Composed by a coating chamber and a mirror cleaning unit. The coating chamber is a 4m diameter vacuum chamber that admits mirrors up to 3m diameter.
- Class 100.000 clean room.
- Opto-mechanical equipment: metrology equipment, spectrophotometer and reflectometer.
- OAJ has expertise in several areas of technological development for astronomical telescopes and instrumentation, such as control (hardware and software), mechanics, electronics and optics.
Summary of Research Services
Open time observation projects: The OAJ offers 20% of Open Observing Time to the astronomical community through periodical calls for proposals. Detailed information can be found in http://oajweb.cefca.es/observingtime/description. Observations are executed in queue mode by the observatory staff. A small fraction of observing time from JAST80 is also available through the Europlanet EU Network.
Long term, legacy observation projects: CEFCA/OAJ can sign agreements with other institutions and/or consortia to carry out long term, legacy observation projects. At present, the following Memorandums of Understanding exist:
- EUCLID: Between Euclid Consortium of the European Space Agency (ESA) and CEFCA for the provision of data with JPCam to complement Euclid space telescope observations.
- J-PAS: A collaboration agreement between ON (Rio de Janeiro), IAG/USP (São Paulo), IAA-CSIC and CEFCA to carry out the J-PAS survey.
A new call for 2nd generation legacy surveys with JAST80 is open for the period 2023 – 2027
Procurement process
The OAJ belongs to and is managed by CEFCA. Therefore, CEFCA’s procurement process applies entirely to the OAJ.