UPDATE: "Halloween pumpkin" video and images from Calar Alto


















Calar Alto Observatory in the European Night of the researchers





What is a lunar eclipse good for?








A complex maneuver allows CARMENES instrument having its visible channel eye


Yesterday the visible channel was integrated into the spectrograph, a complex maneuver successfully achieved.

3.5m telescope access doors became yesterday small. One of the giant eyes with which CARMENES instrument will search for planets like ours, were successfully integrated after flying, held by a crane, to a height of over 30 meters, entering through the dome hole to reach its final location.



CARMENES, the instrument that will search for Earth-like planets, starts its assembly at Calar Alto

feCARMENES front-end, the part which connects the instrument to the telescope, collects the light and injects it into the fibers, is being integrated.

This is the first big subsystem arriving at the observatory, where the tests will be carried out during this week. 

Almería, April 30th, 2015Before the end of this year, CARMENES instrument will open its eyes which to observe the sky in both the visible and the infrared, searching for Earth-like planets, one of the actual challenges of present astrophysics. During 2015 will happen a series of milestones starting this week with the integration of the instrument front-end, the part that connects the instrument with the telescope, collects the light and injects it into the fibers.