National Institute for Astrophysics

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica

Established	1999
Address	Viale del Parco Mellini 84, 00136 Rome, Italy
Location	Rome , Italy
Coordinates	41°55′18.82″N 12°26′59.57″E
Website	http://www.inaf.it/

The National Institute for Astrophysics (Italian: Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, or INAF) is the most important Italian institution conducting scientific research in astronomy and astrophysics. Research performed by the scientific staff of the Institute ranges from the study of the planets and minor bodies of the Solar system up to the large-scale structure of the Universe and groups and clusters of galaxies on cosmological scales.

Research facilities

INAF coordinates the activities of twenty research units, nineteen in Italy and one in Spain:

• Bologna Observatory
• Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Bologna
• Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna
• Cagliari Observatory
• Catania Observatory
• Arcetri Observatory (Florence)
• Brera Observatory (Milan)
• Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Milano
• Capodimonte Observatory (Naples)
• Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova
• Palermo Observatory
• Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Palermo
• Rome Observatory
• Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Roma
• Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario di Roma
• Collurania-Teramo Observatory
• Turin Observatory
• Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario di Torino
• Trieste Observatory
• Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (Canary Islands, Spain)
• Sardinia Radio Telescope (San Basilio, Sardinia)
• Noto Radio Observatory (Noto, Sicily)

International partnerships

Agreement signed for E-ELT MAORY adaptive optics system.

INAF is involved in scientific collaborations with several international institutions, among which we mention:

• the European Southern Observatory (Italy has been an ESO member since 1982)
• the astronomical observatories located in Canary Islands (Teide Observatory and Roque de los Muchachos Observatory)
• the Large Binocular Telescope, in partnership with the United States and Germany
• the Very Long Baseline Interferometry consortium
• the European Space Agency (ESA)
• the American National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA)

Notable figures

• Giovanni Fabrizio Bignami, president of INAF since 2011
• Stefano Cristiani, board member

See also

• Rapid Eye Mount telescope

External links

• Official website of INAF
• Public and press website of INAF
• Website of the Italian Telescopio Nazione Galileo
• Website of the Large Binocular Telescope (Arizona, US)
• Italian Astronomical Archive Center
• VObs.it: Italian Virtual Observatory