Centro de Estudios de Fisica del Cosmos de Aragon

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Aragon Center for Physics of the Cosmos
Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón
TypeResearch institute
EstablishedJuly 22, 2008; 15 years ago (2008-07-22)
FounderMariano Moles Villamate
DirectorJavier Cenarro Lagunas
Academic staff
23 (as of 2023/10)
Total staff
61 (as of 2023/10)
Location,
Websitewww.cefca.es

The Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón (CEFCA) is a Research institute in Teruel, Spain. Established in 2008 as a private foundation of public initiative.[1] by the Government of Aragon. Besides research in astronomy, and leading several large astronomical surveys, CEFCA is the operator of the Astrophysical Observatory of Javalambre (OAJ, recognized as Unique Science and Technology Infrastructure by the national government). The primary research interests at CEFCA are in Stellar evolution, Time-domain astronomy and Galaxy evolution.

History[edit]

CEFCA was officially established in July 2008[1] with Mariano Moles Villamate as the founding director. The founding of CEFCA is intertwined with that of the OAJ, see the history of OAJ for more. Some key dates in CEFCA's history include:

  • 2008: CEFCA is established.[1]
  • 2009: First meeting of CEFCA Steering committee (Patronato de la Fundación CEFCA) and launch of project (allowing hiring of staff).
  • 2010: CEFCA moved to its current location[2] (in Teruel's Plaza San Juan).
  • 2014: OAJ was recognized[3] as a national Unique Scientific and Technical Infrastructure [es].
  • 2016: Javier Cenarro Lagunas became the director.[4]

Location[edit]

Astrophysical Observatory of Javalambre (OAJ) located in the Teruel province and operated by CEFCA.

CEFCA is geographically located in the following installations within the Province of Teruel.

Academics[edit]

CEFCA's academic activity can be classified in the following fields

Graduate program[edit]

CEFCA's graduate program is composed of multiple levels:

  • Summer internships:
    • CEFCA provides funding for M.Sc students from any Spanish university to stay in Teruel for July and August to conduct a short research project with CEFCA's research staff.[5]
    • Google Summer of Code projects[6] that are available internationally and are done remotely.
  • M.Sc final project: this is a one-year project conducted by M.Sc students in Spain. CEFCA's research staff propose research topics for the students of any Spanish university. The students conduct their research in their host university, but under the supervision of the CEFCA research staff.
  • PhD program:[7] A number of PhD students from any university are regularly funded and trained by CEFCA for the full 4-year period of a PhD course in Spain and are based in Teruel. Previous universities that CEFCA has cooperated with for this purpose include University of Zaragoza and Complutense University of Madrid.

Astrophysics[edit]

CEFCA's astrophysics research can be categorized in the following fields;[8] primarily using data from the Astrophysical Observatory of Javalambre (OAJ); but not limited to them.

  • Wide-field Astronomical surveys: design and conduction of wide-field, multi-filter astronomical surveys. This includes surveys like J-PAS[9] (planned to be +8000 square degrees in 57 filters), J-PLUS[10] (+3000 square degrees in data release 3 in 12 filters), Mini-HAWKs (on-going), J-ALFIN[11] (on-going), MUDEHaR (on-going) and North-PHASE (on-going).
  • Astroinformatics: Including the data processing, archiving[12] and analysis of the large volume the wide field imaging data that is produced by the observatory. The OAJ has a dedicated Department for Processing and Archival of Data (DPAD) for this purpose which contains staff researchers, technical astronomers and engineers.
  • Time-domain astronomy: imaging large portions of the sky in various times allows the study of asteroids in the solar system[13] (which move in the sky), variable stars within the Milky Way (which change brightness), or supernova in other galaxies[14]
  • Stellar and galaxy evolution: the very wide field of view, and the many filters of the surveys conducted at OAJ allow accurate measurements of thousands of stars[15] and galaxies[16][17] in each exposure.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "DECREE 155/2008, of July 22, 2008, of the Government of Aragón, authorizing the constitution of the "Fundación Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón"". Boletín Oficial de Aragón. 2008-08-08.
  2. ^ Rajadel, Luis. "The Bank of Spain building could be used for the study of the cosmos". Heraldo. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  3. ^ "Javalambre's Astrophysics Observatory gets national recognition". Heraldo Teruel. 2014-10-08. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
  4. ^ "Director of the CEFCA foundation". CEFCA. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  5. ^ Millán, Javier. "CEFCA promotes scientific vocations with the training of young researchers". Diario de Teruel. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  6. ^ "Google funds software developed in CEFCA for Javalambre Astrophysic Observatory (Teruel)". Europa press. 2023-06-22. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  7. ^ "Two predoctoral positions in Astrophysics 2023". Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  8. ^ "Astrophysicists meet in Teruel to discuss future scientific projects of the JAST80 telescope of the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory". Aragón Hoy. 2021-11-24. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  9. ^ Bonoli, Silvia; Marín-Franch, Antonio; Varela, Jesus; et, al (September 2021). "The miniJPAS survey: A preview of the Universe in 56 colors". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 653: A31. arXiv:2007.01910. Bibcode:2021A&A...653A..31B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202038841. S2CID 220363510.
  10. ^ Cenarro, Javier; Moles, Mariano; Cristobal-Hornillos, David; et, al. (February 2019). "J-PLUS: The Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 622: A176. arXiv:1804.02667. Bibcode:2019A&A...622A.176C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833036. S2CID 55842503.
  11. ^ Millán, Javier (2023-06-12). "A new research project with the JAST80 telescope at Javalambre will investigate nebulae". Diario de Teruel. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  12. ^ Civera, Tamara (August 2022). "CEFCA Catalogues Portal towards FAIR principles". Proceedings of ADASS XXXI. arXiv:2208.05272.
  13. ^ Morate, D.; Mahlke, M.; Álvarez-Candal, A.; Ederoclite, A.; Vázquez Ramió, H.; Siffert, B.B.; Placco, V. (July 2023). "Asteroids & J-Var". Seventh Edition of the Spanish Meeting of Planetary Sciences and Exploration of the Solar System. Bibcode:2023pses.conf79690M.
  14. ^ Espinosa, L.; Ederoclite, A.; Siffert, B.B (2023). "Detection of supernovae in J-VAR". Boletim da Sociedade Astrônomica Brasileira. Proceedings da XLV Reunião Anual da SAB. 34: 308–310. Bibcode:2023BoSAB..34..308E.
  15. ^ Lopez-Sanjuan, C.; Tremblay, P.E; Ederoclite, A. (September 2022). "The miniJPAS survey: White dwarf science with 56 optical filters". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 665: A151. arXiv:2203.10615. Bibcode:2022A&A...665A.151L. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243584. S2CID 247593781.
  16. ^ Rahna, P.T.; Zheng, Z. -Y; Chies-Santos, A.L. (December 2022). "The miniJPAS Survey: Detection of the double-core Lyα morphology for two high-redshift QSOs". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 668: A148. arXiv:2207.00196. Bibcode:2022A&A...668A.148R. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244711. S2CID 250243992.
  17. ^ Rodríguez-Martín, J.E.; González Delgado, R.M.; Martínez-Solaeche, G.; et, al. (October 2022). "The miniJPAS survey. Galaxy populations in the most massive cluster in miniJPAS: mJPC2470-1771". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 666: A160. arXiv:2203.10615. Bibcode:2022A&A...665A.151L. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243245. S2CID 250921083.