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
On 14 October, the inaugural Werner Hofmann Scientific Award was presented at the CTAO Construction Meeting that is taking place this week at the CTAO Science Data Management Centre (SDMC) in Zeuthen, Germany. Following a rigorous nomination and review process by an international panel of experts, the award was given to Shotaro Abe, a researcher … Continued
Today, in the Sala dei Giganti of the University of Padua, Italy, partners and collaborators of the CTAO gathered to celebrate the launch of activities of the CTAO ERIC. The ceremony, organised by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR), brought together representatives from the CTAO … Continued
On 30 September 2025, the transfer of assets from the former legal entity of the Observatory, CTAO gGmbH — a non-profit limited liability company under German law — to its current European Research Infrastructure Consortium, CTAO ERIC, was formally concluded at a signing event in Munich, Germany, in the presence of a notary. On behalf … Continued
The U.S. teams involved in the development of the CTAO have been awarded a $3.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to contribute to building and installing ten cameras for the Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs). Led by the Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the funds will provide light detectors … Continued