Hungarian Member in the OPTICON-RadioNet PILOT Project

Konkoly Observatory is the Astronomical Institute of the Research Center for Astronomy and Earth Sciences (CSFK), which belongs to the Eötvös Loránd Research Network, has announced that it joins Europe’s largest ground-based astronomy collaborative network.

Two major collaborative networks for ground-based astronomy, one in the optical domain (OPTICON) and the other in the radio-wave domain (RadioNet) have now come together to form Europe’s largest ground-based astronomy collaborative network. Launched with funding to the tune of EUR 15 million under the H2020 program, the project aims to harmonise observational methods and tools, and provide access to a wider range of astronomy facilities. The CNRS will coordinate the project, together with the University of Cambridge and the Max-Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy.

The ORP network is intended to harmonise observational methods and tools for ground-based optical and radio astronomy instruments, and provide researchers with access to a wider range of facilities, building on the success and experience of the OPTICON and RadioNet networks. The new program will make it easier for the astronomy community to access these infrastructures, as well as provide training for new generations of astronomers.

In the framework of the networking, the CSFK Institute of Astronomy plans to establish a VLTI Expert Center in Hungary. The VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer) is the telescope system of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which, by linking several giant telescopes, offers European astronomers unique opportunities on a global scale. The VLTI will allow researchers to study the universe at milli-arcsecond scales in the so-called near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths.