Recent Talks

Mechatronic imaging systems, used in scientific applications as well as in the high-tech industry, demand a continuous improvement of precision, range, as well as system bandwidth and speed. These challenging goals can be achieved only by a proper system integration, which requires an advanced mechatronic system design and highly sophisticated motion control. Example applications for the discussed mechatronic imaging systems are atomic force microscopes (AFM), wafer scanners, scanning laser and LIDAR systems, as well as adaptive optics and satellite ranging.

A proper system integration that utilizes the interplay between mechatronic system design and control design is key for achieving maximum performance of mechatronic systems in high-tech applications. Already at the system design phase all components involved in the specific application have to be considered. Examples for these components are the mechanical structure of the device, the power amplifier, the actuators, the sensors, electronics, and the real-time control system. To meet the demanding specifications, the final system, including all hard- and software components, has to be tailored to and optimized for each specific application.

https://youtu.be/cHljnHRpJAQ

La construcción de grandes telescopios requiere el desarrollo de sistemas de Óptica Adaptativa (AO) cada vez más sensibles y rápidos. Sin embargo, todo el esfuerzo invertido en estos desarrollos deja atrás la gran cantidad de telescopios de menor tamaño que aún son cruciales en las campañas de observación y a los que se les podría sacar un mayor rendimiento.

A lo largo de esta presentación hablaremos del prototipado de un sistema real de AO en visible, diseñado para el Telescopio Carlos Sánchez (TCS, 1.5m) y compatible con el Telescopio Óptico Nórdico (NOT, 2.5m), que puede mejorar las capacidades de fotometría y espectroscopía de estos telescopios, lo que nos permitirá trabajar en visible e IR.

El instrumento a desarrollar tiene por nombre ALIOLI (Adaptive and Lucky Imaging Optics in a Lightweight Instrument) y es una evolución del instrumento AOLI (Adaptive Optics y Lucky Imager) buscando un instrumento ligero y portátil que pueda ser instalado en diferentes telescopios.

Para este enfoque se concentraron los esfuerzos en seleccionar el sensor de frente de onda (WFS) más adecuado para el instrumento, realizando estudios comparativos de la sensibilidad, la linealidad y el rango dinámico de cada uno de los sensores propuestos. Además, se propone un estudio de la respuesta de cada sensor en función del telescopio, las condiciones atmosféricas y del instrumento de ciencia que se vaya a colocar a posterior. El estudio comparativo incluye resultados de simulación, test en laboratorio utilizando un simulador de telescopio y atmósfera, así como pruebas en telescopio.

Enlace YouTube

https://youtu.be/hcpDCb4u3Y0

Rotation plays an important role in the life of stars and offers a potential diagnostic to infer their ages and that of their planets. This idea is known as gyrochronology, and if properly calibrated, its applications to Galactic, stellar, and exoplanetary astrophysics would be far-reaching. Nevertheless, while potentially fruitful over a wide range of ages and masses, recent results have raised concerns regarding gyrochronology’s applicability. In this talk, I will present the opportunities that the Gaia astrometry has opened to address these issues. First, regarding rotation’s classical calibrators, I will illustrate the impact that removing the non-member contamination has on the rotational sequences of open clusters. Second, I will present a novel method that tests the state-of-the-art gyrochronology relations in under-explore domains using wide binary stars. Finally, I will discuss the prospects for expanding the existing rotational constraints in unprecedented regimes using data from the TESS mission.

El Proyecto del telescopio solar europeo EST, de cuatro metros, está en su fase de diseño preliminar, previa a la fase de construcción. En esta charla presentaré la Oficina de Proyecto de EST y el estado de los trabajos de diseño del telescopio que se realizan y/o gestionan desde la Oficina de proyecto, con el objetivo claro de hacer realidad EST en el Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos en la Palma.

Unirse a la reunión Zoom

https://rediris.zoom.us/j/83477510350

https://youtu.be/s_uaVhtzY8M

The lowest metallicity stars that still exist today represent a window into the early Universe. Studying these stars gives us a local avenue to guide our understanding of star formation and supernova feedback in the early Universe, the early build-up of galaxies like our Milky Way, and the epoch of reionization. In this talk I will present recent results of the Pristine survey, a narrow-band photometric survey of the Milky Way designed to get metallicity information for millions of stars very efficiently. I will discuss what we have learned from our analysis of the most metal-poor stars about the early formation of the Milky Way. Moreover, I will highlight the bright future for this type of study in synergy with the upcoming highly-multiplexed spectroscopic surveys.

El IAC puso en marcha hace cinco años una iniciativa pionera para impulsar y promover la transferencia de tecnología a la industria espacial, IACTEC-Espacio, dedicada al diseño e integración de cargas útiles para pequeños satélites y al desarrollo de algoritmos para extraer información de imágenes de observación de la Tierra.

En enero de 2021 se lanzó con éxito nuestro primer instrumento, DRAGO, una cámara para observar la Tierra en dos bandas en infrarrojo de onda corta (SWIR). Además un diseño compacto, DRAGO incorpora una tecnología innovadora: un sensor InGaAs sin refrigeración. Tras un año de funcionamiento, DRAGO ha demostrado su utilidad en muchas de las aplicaciones para las que fue diseñado, como el control de la humedad o la detección y seguimiento de focos e incendios.

El próximo hito será ALISIO I, el primer satélite canario con una versión de mayor resolución de DRAGO, que se lanzará en el primer trimestre de 2023. El equipo también está trabajando en dos proyectos con un nivel de complejidad aún mayor: IACSAT-1-TAJINASTE, el primer observatorio espacial astronómico del IAC, y VINIS, una cámara de observación de la Tierra con resolución inferior a 10 m y capacidad de observación simultánea en los rangos visible y SWIR.

A key problem that we are facing in cosmology nowadays is that we cannot make accurate predictions with our current theoretical models. We have all of the pieces of the standard model but it doesn't have an analytical solution. The only way to have accurate predictions is to run a cosmological simulation. Then, why not use these simulations as the theory model? Well, for one main reason, if we want to explore the full parameter space comprised in the standard model, we need thousands of such simulations, and they are terribly computationally expensive. We wouldn't be able to do it in years! In this talk, I will tell you how in the last few years we have come up with a way to circumvent this problem.

El IAC está incorporando una nueva actividad en el marco del laboratorio LISA, cuyo objetivo es la familiarización con los detectores MKIDs. Para ello se está montando la infraestructura requerida. Se comentará los fundamentos del funcionamiento de los MKIDs, las características de esta infraestructura, y las actividades transversales previstas para ésta.

The expansion rate of the Universe parameterized by the Hubble-Lemaître parameter H(z), has been a major endeavor in cosmology since the discovery of the expanding Universe. In the last years, significant effort has been put forth to measure with high precision the local value of the Hubble-Lemaître parameter known as the Hubble constant (H0), and today H0 is estimated from the distance ladder with an uncertainty of <3% . Perplexingly, these findings have revealed a dramatic discrepancy dubbed "the Hubble tension": the estimation of H0 from the local distance ladder is in strong disagreement (at 4.4σ or 99.99% level) with the value inferred at high-redshift from the angular scale of fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), possibly hinting towards new physics beyond the standard model. This discrepancy represents the most urgent puzzle of modern cosmology, and it is nowadays one of its hottest topics. The HOSTFLOWS project aims to advance towards solving of this tension by (i) performing an unprecedented study of the local environments of nearby standard candles to address the leading systematic uncertainties in the measurement of H0, and (ii) reconstructing the panorama of our supercluster Laniakea by studying cosmic flows using type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the near-infrared (NIR). In this talk, I will introduce the topic and summarize the current and future efforts HOTFLOWS is doing in this regard.

Zoom link: https://rediris.zoom.us/j/81863823691?pwd=OFM1QW9Qc0dOQjZZVVd5RHAxM3FvQT09

Meeting ID: 818 6382 3691

Passcode: 223140

Youtube link: https://youtu.be/uGQPTJCZIfE

Did you ever want to re-run your project from the beginning, but run into trouble because you forgot one step? Do you want to run just one part of your project and ignore the rest? Do you want to run it in parallel with many different inputs using all the cores of your computer? Do you want to design a modular project, with re-usable parts, avoiding long files hard to debug?

Make is a well-tested solution to all these problems. It is independent of the programming language you use. Instead of having a long code hard to debug, you can connect its components making a chain. Make will allow you to automate your project and retain control of how its parts are integrated. This SMACK seminar will give an overview of this powerful tool.

Gitlab link: https://gitlab.com/makhlaghi/smack-talks-iac/-/tree/master/