Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique (IRAM) is an international research institute and Europe's leading center for radio astronomy at millimeter wavelengths. Its mission is to explore the universe, study its origins and its evolution with two of the most advanced radio facilities in the world: * The NOEMA observatory (NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array), an array of currently eleven 15-meter antennas located in the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such a ...

on the Plateau de Bure at more than 2550 meters above sea level. NOEMA is the most powerful millimeter observatory of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

. * The IRAM 30-meter telescope, located at 2850 meters altitude on Pico Veleta in the Spanish

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

(

Andalucia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

). The telescope is the world's premier single-dish facility for astronomical research in the millimeter wavelength range. Both sites are at high

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

to reduce the absorption by water vapour in Earth's atmosphere. The telescopes are supported by the IRAM offices and laboratories in

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

and

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

, respectively. The IRAM headquarters are on the campus of Université Grenoble Alpes near

. More than 120 scientists, engineers, technicians and administrative personnel work for the IRAM organization. The institute's laboratories cover the complete field of

high frequency High frequency (HF) is the ITU designation for the band of radio waves with frequency between 3 and 30 megahertz (MHz). It is also known as the decameter band or decameter wave as its wavelengths range from one to ten decameters (ten to one ...

technology. IRAM staff develop cutting edge technology for the IRAM facilities and to the benefit of the international astronomical community.

Facilities and research

The principal activity of IRAM is the study of mostly cold matter ( interstellar molecular gas and

cosmic dust Cosmic dustalso called extraterrestrial dust, space dust, or star dustis dust that occurs in outer space or has fallen onto Earth. Most cosmic dust particles measure between a few molecules and , such as micrometeoroids (30 μm). Cosmic dust can ...

) in the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

, in our

Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...

, and other

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar Sys ...

out to

cosmological Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

distances in order to determine their composition, physical parameters and history. Compared to

optical astronomy Visible-light astronomy encompasses a wide variety of astronomical observation via telescopes that are sensitive in the range of visible light (optical telescopes). Visible-light astronomy is part of optical astronomy, and differs from astronomi ...

, which is sensitive to the hot universe (stars are generally a few thousand degrees Celsius), radiotelescopes that operate in the millimeter wavebands, such as NOEMA or the IRAM 30-meter telescope, probe the cold universe (around -250 degrees Celsius). They are able to see the formation of the first

in the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

, to observe super-giant

black hole A black hole is a massive, compact astronomical object so dense that its gravity prevents anything from escaping, even light. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will form a black hole. Th ...

s at the center of galaxies, to analyze the chemical evolution and dynamics of nearby galaxies, to detect

organic molecules Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. For example, carbon-cont ...

and possible key elements of life and to investigate the formation of

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

s and the appearance of

planetary system A planetary system is a set of gravity, gravitationally bound non-stellar Astronomical object, bodies in or out of orbit around a star or star system. Generally speaking, systems with one or more planets constitute a planetary system, although ...

s. IRAM's facilities have done pioneering work and made a large number of astronomical discoveries. NOEMA has observed the most distant

galaxy A galaxy is a Physical system, system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar medium, interstellar gas, cosmic dust, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ' (), literally 'milky', ...

known to date. Together with the IRAM 30-meter telescope it made the first complete and detailed radio images of nearby galaxies and their gas. NOEMA also obtained the first image of a gas disk surrounding a double star system ''(Dutrey'' al. 1994). Its antennas captured for the first time a cavity in one of these disks, a major hint for the existence of a planetary object orbiting the new star and absorbing matter on its trajectory ( GG tau, ''Piétu'' et al. 2011). The IRAM facilities have discovered one third of the interstellar molecules known to date (published ApJ, 2018, ''Brett A. McGuire''). Both IRAM observatories are part of the

Event Horizon Telescope The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a Astronomical interferometer, telescope array consisting of a global network of radio telescopes. The EHT project combines data from several very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) stations around Earth, wh ...

(EHT), a global array of radio telescopes. In 2017, IRAM participated in the observations that lead to the publication of the first ever image of a

History

IRAM was founded in 1979 and is operated as a French-German-Spanish collaboration. Its partner institutes are the

Centre national de la recherche scientifique The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

(CNRS, France), the

Max Planck Society The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. Founded in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, it was renamed to the M ...

(MPG, Max Planck Gesellschaft, Germany), and the Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN, Spain). Today, the institute is considered a model of scientific multinational cooperation.

Global outreach

IRAM supports the scientific research of more than 5000 astronomers worldwide. The institute maintains close research partnerships with high-profile universities and research organizations in North-America and China as well as with other radio-astronomical facilities including the ALMA observatory in the Southern Hemisphere. In 2016, The

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Astronomy Department signed into an agreement allowing access to NOEMA . In 2017, the University of Nanjing (China) and the

Purple Mountain Observatory The Purple Mountain Observatory (), also known as Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory, is an astronomical observatory located on the Purple Mountain in the east of Nanjing. The observatory is responsible for calculating the official Chinese calen ...

(Chinese Academy of Sciences) followed. IRAM also exports its technical and instrumental know-how. Transnational organizations like the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

benefit from IRAM's developments for their space missions.

Gallery

File:NOEMA observatory. IRAM.jpg, The NOEMA observatory operated by IRAM File:NOEMA antennas under the Milky Way.jpg, NOEMA antennas under the Milky Way File:The IRAM 30-meter telescope.jpg, The IRAM 30-meter telescope File:The IRAM 30-meter telescope scanning the night sky.jpg, The IRAM 30-meter telescope observing by night

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Institut de radioastronomie millimetrique Astronomical observatories in France Astronomical observatories in Spain Science and technology in Grenoble Educational institutions established in 1979 Buildings and structures in Andalusia 1979 establishments in France 1979 establishments in Spain

Facilities and research

History

Global outreach

Gallery

See also

References