OBSERVATORIO DE SIERRA NEVADA

Discover the Observatory
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía - CSIC

GUIDED VISITS

Visit the OSN and the IRAM 30-meter telescope
in July or August

OBSERVING TIME

Call for Observing Proposals
Semester 2023A
opening soon.

News

A brilliant fireball across the south of Spain at 22:25 local time (21:25 UT) on December 11, 2016.

Spectacular fireball seen over Granada on December 11th 2016

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Spectacular fireball seen over Granada on December 11th 2016

At 22:25 local time (21:25 UT) on Monday 11 December, a brilliant fireball crossed the south of Spain. The fireball, which flew over the provinces of Granada and Jaén, could be seen from much of the country and was registered by the fireball detection station at the Observatorio Sierra Nevada.

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ISON, ¿The comet of the century?

Images of Comet ISON from the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada

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Images of Comet ISON from the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada

The Observatorio de Sierra Nevada, together with other national and international observatories, is carrying out an extensive observation campaign for the study of the comet ISON during its trip to the perihelion that will be next November 28. The photograph corresponds to an image taken on October 11 by the telescope T150 of the OSN.

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Call for Proposals for 2021B semestre will open soon.

Call for Proposals for 2021B semestre now open.

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Call for Proposals for 2021B semestre now open.

Call for proposals for requesting observing time at the T150 and T90 telescopes for the 2021B semestre (July 1^st - December 31^st).

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Images of the asteroid 2012 DA14 taken with theT150 (1.5-m) telescope.

The asteroid 2012 DA14 observed at the Observatorio de Sierr...

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The asteroid 2012 DA14 observed at the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada

The observations were made with the telescope of 1.5 meters of the Observatory of Sierra Nevada. The 2012 DA14 asteroid visited us about 28000 km from Earth on the night of February 15, 2013. The video was performed by Alfredo Sota using 200 images of 3 seconds of integration time and without filter.

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Fireball on Epiphany day

Fireball on January 6th 2017

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Fireball on January 6th 2017

On January 6th 2017, the Epiphany Day, at 19:15 local time (18:15 UT) a fireball was detected form the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (IAA-CSIC).
The GOSSS survey was designed to fill the gaps and overcome the heterogeneity of previous surveys which led to systematic errors in the classification of stars

GOSSS survey clears the way for study of massive stars

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GOSSS survey clears the way for study of massive stars

The GOSSS project, launched in 2007 and having over two hundred and fifty nights of observations, involves the Sierra Nevada Observatory (Granada), the Calar Alto Observatory (Almería), the La Palma Observatory (Canary Islands), and the Las Campanas Observatory (Chile).

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Telecopes & Instruments

BOOTES-IR (Burst and Optical Transient Exploring Systemin the near-InfraRed)

60 cm Telescope - BOOTES-IR

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60 cm Telescope - BOOTES-IR

The 60 cm telescope (T60) or BOOTES-IR (Burst and Optical Transient Exploring Systemin the near-InfraRed) is the extension of the BOOTES project towards near-infrared (IR) wavelengths thanks to nIR camera.

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Characteristics of the CCDT150 and CCDT90 cameras.

CCDT150 and CCDT90 Cameras

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CCDT150 and CCDT90 Cameras

Characteristics of the CCDT150 camera Andor ikon-L (modelo DZ936N-BEX2-DD), available at the East focus of the T150 telescope and the West focus of the T190 telescope.

Characteristics of previous CCD Roper at T150 (VersArray 2048 x 2048) can be found here.

Characteristics of previous CCD Roper at T90 (VersArray 2048 x 2048) can be found here.

Available filters.

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Main characteristics of the 90-cm telescope (T90).

90 cm Telescope

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90 cm Telescope

Main mechanical and optics characteristics of the 90-cm telescope (T90) as well as reflectivity measurements of the mirrors.

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Characteristics of the old T90 VersArray camera (retired October 2021).

Old T90 Camera (retired)

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Old T90 Camera (retired)

Characteristics of the old T90 camera (VersArray 2048x2048) that was at the West focus of the T90 telescope until October 2021. Available filters.

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Main characteristics of the 1.5-m telescope (T150).

1.5 m Telescope

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1.5 m Telescope

Main mechanical and optics characteristics of the 1.5-m telescope (T150) as well as reflectivity measurements of the mirrors.

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Photoelectric photometer in the Strömgen uvby and Crawford Hβ systems.

Strömgren Photometer

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Strömgren Photometer

The Strömgren photometer is attached to the E focus of the T90 telescope allowing to observe simultaneously in the four bands of uvby Strömgren photometric system and, of alternative way, in the two bands n and w of Crawford Hβ photometric system.

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Main characteristics of 14" telescope (T35), CCD camera and filters.

35 cm Telescope

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35 cm Telescope

Main characteristics of 14" telescope (T35), CCD camera and filters.

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Fabry-Perot Interferometer SATI (Spectral Airglow Temperature Imager) .

SATI

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SATI

SATI (Spectral Airglow Temperature Imager) is a Fabry-Perot interferometer adapted to measure the O₂ atmosphere and OH Meinel systems.

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Science

Publications

List of publications performed with data obtained from the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada.

Seeing measurements

Measurements in and out dome obtained in the seeing characterization campaigns.

Archive

Astronomical data archive.

Thesis

Thesis carried out with data collected from the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada and from old Observatorio del Mojón del Trigo.

Meteors and fireballs

List of meteors and fireballs detected with the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada fireball detection station which is part of the SMART project.

Observing at OSN

Call for proposals

Application deadlines for observing time and proposals and forms.

Time Allocation Committee

Time Allocation Committe (TAC) members.

Telescopes schedule

Timeline for both telescopes.

Preparing for the observation

Tools for preparing the observation: Staralt programme for knowing the visibility of objects, list of standard stars, on-line surveys..

DDT

Director's Discretionary Time application.

Weather

OSN weather

Current weather at OSN.

OSN webcam

Webcam situated in the main building pointing to southeast.

SNOWS Station

Weather station SNOWS (Sierra Nevada Observatory Weather Station). Only IAA Network.

CAHA Weather

Current weather at the Calar Alto Observatory (Almería).

Satellite images (Web AEMET)

Link to METEOSAT satellite images of the web Agencia Estatal de Meteorología.

Weather archive

Weather archive of OSN.

AllSky webcam

With this webcam is possible to see practically all night sky. It is located on the roof of the main building between both domes. It is only operated when it gets dark.

CETURSA webcams

Images of the several webcams located in different points of the ski resort.

IRAM-30m weather

Current weather of the IRAM 30m radio telescope (Sierra Nevada, Granada).

Satellite images (Web EUMETSAT)

Link to the METEOSAT satellite images of the web EUTMESAT.

Pictures

Globular Cluster in the constellation of Aquarius.

M2

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M2

Globular Cluster in the constellation of Aquarius.

This cluster is about 37500 light-years distnat from Earth and it is at 175 light-years in diameter, so it is one of the larger globular clusters known. It is 13 billion years old and one of the older globulars associated with Milky Way. The cluster is compact and rich in stars, about 150000, inluding 21 known variable stars.

Photograph: combination o a serie of 3x120 second images on each of the Johnson BVR filters taken with the T150 telescope.

10/10/2006

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Nebula in the constellation of Taurus.

M1 (Crab Nebula)

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M1 (Crab Nebula)

Nebula in the constellation of Taurus.

The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant of plerion type (is a nebula powered by the pulsar wind of a pulsar). At the center of the nebula lies a pulsar with a spin rate of 30.2 times per secondwhich emits pulses of radiation from gamma rays to radio waves. The nebula lies in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy. It is located at a distance of about 1930 parsec (6300 light years) from Earth, it has a diameter of 3.4 parsec (11 light years) and it is expanding at a rate of about 1,500 km/s. The discovery of the nebula was the first evidence to show that supernova explosions produce pulsars.

Photograph: combination of 6 200-second images on each of the Johnson BVI filters taken with the CCDT150 camera attached to T150 telescope.

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Planetary Nebula in the constellation Lynx.

Planetary Nebula PK164+31.1

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Planetary Nebula PK164+31.1

Planetary Nebula in the constellation Lynx.

PK164+31.1, also known as Jones-Emberson 1, is a low bright planetary nebula that lies about 1,600 light years away towards the constellation Lynx. Due to its magnitude 17 it is only visible in good-size telescopes. A hot blue white dwarf star near the center of the nebula is what remains of the nucleus because the gas is expelled at different times (as can be seen the image) at the end of the life of the star. The expanding nebula will fade over the next thousands of years while the central star can survive for billions of years.

Image: Combination of 3 images of 900 seconds in the Hα, NII and OIII filters taken with the CCDT150 camera of the T150 telescope.

10/01/2017 L.F. Miranda

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OSN Images

Observatorio de Sierra Nevada

Presentation

A brief introduction about the OSN.

Guided visit

Guided visits to the observatory for the general public in the months of summer.

Annual reports

The OSN activities are summarized in the annual reports.

Members

List of personnel assigned to the OSN as well as IAA - CSIC technical personnel who provide support to OSN.

Brief history of the OSN

History of the observatory since its foundation.

Intranet

Access to restricted information for personnel assigned to OSN through its intranet.

View Map Address

Location Contact

Observatorio de Sierra Nevada

Parque Natural de Sierra Nevada
Granada, Spain
Longitude: W 03º 23´ 05"
Latitude: N 37º 03´ 51"
Altitude: 2896 m

Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía

Address: Glorieta de la Astronomía s/n, 18008 Granada, Spain

Tel: (+34) 958 12 13 11

Fax: (+34) 958 814 530

E-mail: contact-osn [at] iaa.es