INAF

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica
Established	1999
Address	Viale del Parco Mellini 84, 00136 Rome, Italy
Location	Rome, Italy
Coordinates	41°55′18.82″N 12°26′59.57″E / 41.9218944°N 12.4498806°ECoordinates: 41°55′18.82″N 12°26′59.57″E / 41.9218944°N 12.4498806°E
Website	http://www.inaf.it/

The National Institute for Astrophysics (Italian: Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, or INAF) is an Italian research institute in astronomy and astrophysics, founded in 1999. INAF funds and operates twenty separate research facilities, which in turn employ scientists, engineers and technical staff. The research they perform covers most areas of astronomy, ranging from planetary science to cosmology.^[1]

Research facilities[]

INAF coordinates the activities of twenty research units, nineteen in Italy and one in Spain:

Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna
Cagliari Observatory
Catania Observatory
Arcetri Observatory (Florence)
Brera Observatory (Milan)
Capodimonte Observatory (Naples)
Palermo Observatory
Rome Observatory
Collurania-Teramo Observatory
Turin Observatory
Trieste Observatory
Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (Canary Islands, Spain)
Sardinia Radio Telescope (San Basilio, Sardinia)
Noto Radio Observatory (Noto, Sicily)

International partnerships[]

Agreement signed for E-ELT MAORY adaptive optics system.^[2]

INAF is involved in scientific collaborations with several international institutions, including:

the European Southern Observatory (Italy has been an ESO member since 1982)
the astronomical observatories located in Canary Islands (Teide Observatory and Roque de los Muchachos Observatory)
the Large Binocular Telescope, in partnership with the United States and Germany
the Very Long Baseline Interferometry consortium
the European Space Agency (ESA)
the American National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA)