Between 27 and 29 May, the CTAO ERIC Council held its first in-person meeting of the year on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain), home to the CTAO northern hemisphere array, or CTAO-North. The Council is the governing body of the CTAO ERIC and includes delegates from Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the … Continued
During the week of 4 May, the CTAO Central Organisation co-hosted, along with the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), the University of Bologna, and the Galileo National Telescope, the International Scientific Committee of the Canary Islands Observatories (CCI, in Spanish) at the home of the CTAO Headquarters in Bologna, Italy. With its northern hemisphere … Continued
(Versión en español abajo) On Saturday, 16 May 2026, at 11:00 am, the Teatro Chico (C. Díaz Pimienta 1, Santa Cruz de La Palma) will host the sixth edition of “Women of CTAO,” an outreach event that focuses on the women who are making possible one of the most ambitious scientific projects on the planet: … Continued
On 21–22 April, experts from the CTAO Central Organisation and the Small-Sized Telescope (SST) Collaboration successfully established the first direct communication between the telescope structure and the Array Control and Data Acquisition (ACADA) software. As the central system that will eventually send commands to operate both CTAO telescope arrays, conducting integration tests between ACADA and the telescope is a critical pre-shipment milestone to minimise potential compatibility risks before the SSTs are delivered to the remote CTAO-South site in Chile. … Continued
On Thursday, 12 March, Anna Maria Bernini, the Italian Minister of University and Research, travelled to ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Her visit included tours of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) and CTAO-South, the CTAO’s telescope array site in the southern hemisphere. She was accompanied by a small delegation that included Valeria Biagiotti, Ambassador of Italy … Continued
On 3 February, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (GZS) hosted the annual Big Science business meeting, an event designed to connect national companies and institutions with leading research organisations worldwide. This year, the CTAO was invited to play a central role in the event, giving the CTAO Director General, Stuart McMuldroch, a platform to present the opportunities for synergy between the Observatory and the Slovenian industrial community. The event, … Continued
Credit: Massimiliano Donati
On 2–3 December, the CTAO Central Organisation’s Telescope team visited the facilities of the Italian company Dal Ben, located in the Veneto region, to conduct the Test Readiness Review (TRR) for the electromechanical structure of the Small-Sized Telescope (SST). After the CTAO SST Collaboration completed the integration of the first SST telescope at the facility, … Continued
From 19 to 21 November 2025, the CTAO ERIC Council convened at the CTAO Science Data Management Centre (SDMC) in Zeuthen, Berlin, for its fifth meeting. During the session, the Council unanimously approved a revision of the CTAO ERIC Statutes to formally include Switzerland and Croatia as full members, granting them corresponding voting rights. Switzerland … Continued
On 22 October, during the Research and Technology Infrastructure (RTI) Summit 2025 in Copenhagen, Denmark, Francisco Colomer, Chair of the CTAO ERIC Council, received a commemorative plaque from the European Commission on behalf of the CTAO, ceremonially recognising the Observatory’s establishment as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). The handover took place during a special … Continued