Max Planck Institute for Astronomy - Annual Report 2005

I.2 Observatories, Telescopes, and Instruments
The MPIA has been and still is a driver in the
construction and operation of two large ground-based
observatories: During the 1970s and 1980s the construction
of the Calar Alto Observatory, the largest observatory
on the European continent, had been the central
focus of the MPIA and the 2.2, and 3.5 m telescopes are
still scheduled for competitive observing programs.
Since 2005 the observatory formally is jointly operated
by the Max Planck Society (represented by the MPIA)
and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientìficas
(CSIC) (represented by the IAA) as Centro Astronomico
Hispano-Alemán, an organization of Spanish law.
Since 1997 the MPIA has been the coordinating institute
for the German participation in the Large Binocular
Telescope (LBT), which is under construction on Mt.
Graham near Tucson, Arizona.
The MPIA also has a 2.2m telescope on La Silla,
Chile, operated by the European Southern Observatory
(eSo), with 25 % of the time available to MPG researchers.
The MPIA has a prominent and successful tradition
of developing and building instruments for ground-based
and space-based astronomical observations. In many instances,
ground- and space-based observations are complementary.
Ground-based telescopes usually have larger
mirrors and therefore a larger light-gathering power than
space telescopes. By using cutting-edge techniques like
adaptive optics and interferometry – where the MPIA has
played a leading role in the development – they can also
Fig. I.2: The 3.5 m telescope on Calar Alto in its 43m tall
dome.
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