About us

General Info

A series of information regarding the Galilean telescope

About us

What is TNG?

The Fundación Galileo Galilei, Fundación Canaria (FGG), is a Spanish non-profit institution.
Its main aim is to promote astrophysical research by managing the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), located at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory on the Canary Island of La Palma (San Miguel de La Palma), together with its scientific, technical, and administrative facilities.

Financial support is provided by the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Italy.

TNG

Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG)

Aperture: 3.58 m
Location: Roque de Los Muchachos, La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain)

Key features

Optical design suitable for both visible and infrared observations.
Four instruments permanently mounted at the two Nasmyth foci, easily interchangeable during the same night.
Flexible scheduling to optimize scientific programs.

Direction

Name	Role	Phone	Email	Tasks
Adriano Ghedina	Director	Ext. 3649	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	Curriculum
Gaspar Ventura	Vice Director	Ext. 3648	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	Curriculum

Scientific Staff

Name	Role	Phone	Email	Tasks
Bruno Dall’Ora	Astronomer	Ext. 3652	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	Research
Isabel Rebollido	Astronomer	Ext. 3655	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	Research
Guido Fiorenzano	Staff Astronomer	Ext. 3647	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	Research

Technical Staff

Name	Role	Phone	Email	Tasks
Davide Cosentino	Electronics Engineer	Ext. 3623	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	Support
Jorge Pérez	Mechanical Engineer	Ext. 3614	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	Support
Francesco Calonico	IT Systems Engineer	Ext. 3620	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	Systems

Administration

Name	Role	Phone	Email	Tasks
Maria Bianchi	Secretary	Ext. 3601	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	Contact
Andrea De Luca	Accountant	Ext. 3605	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	Accounting

Maintenance & Operations

Name	Role	Phone	Email	Tasks
Jose Ramirez	Night Technician	Ext. 3631	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	Operations
Pedro Alonso	Night Assistant	Ext. 3632	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	Observations

Reference Publications

Cosentino, R., et al. (2012) – Harps-N: the new planet hunter at TNG, SPIE 8446, id. 84461V.
Ghedina, A., et al. (2018) – Celebrating 20 years of scientific and technical results with the INAF-TNG Telescope, SPIE 10704, id. 107041A.
Harutyunyan, A., et al. (2018) – GIANO-B online data reduction software at the TNG, SPIE 10706, id. 1070642.
Poretti, E. (2018) – The TNG and its instruments after 20 years of operations, Conf. Jedi2018, Rome

Focal Plane Instruments

HARPS-N

High-resolution spectrograph (R = 115,000) in the visible (383–693 nm).
Best instrument in the Northern hemisphere for exoplanet discovery and characterization down to Earth-like planets.
Radial velocity accuracy: better than 1 m/s.

GIANO-B

High-resolution spectrograph (R = 50,000) in the near-IR (0.9–2.5 μm, up to K band).
Applications:
Characterization of exoplanet atmospheres.
Detailed stellar abundance analysis.

DOLORES

Multi-mode imager/spectrograph at visible wavelengths.
Field of view: 9’ × 9’
Spectral resolution: R = 300–7,000
Well suited for transient monitoring and extragalactic studies.

NICS

Multi-mode imager/spectrograph at infrared wavelengths (0.9–2.5 μm).
Field of view: 4.2’ × 4.2’
Spectral resolution: R = 40–2,500
Suitable for transient monitoring and Solar System object studies.

GIARPS

Combined HARPS-N + GIANO-B mode.
Provides simultaneous spectra covering 0.4–2.5 μm in a single observation.

Observing Time Allocation

TNG time is distributed through four channels:

INAF – Italian time and TNG–NOT agreement
CAT – Spanish time
ITP – International Time Program
OPTICON – European access

Observing Modes

Visitor Mode: the VA Office assists with travel and logistics.
Service Mode: observations carried out by TNG staff in close communication with the PI.

Data Access

Scientific data and calibration files are available the day after each observing run via the IA2 Archive (Centro Italiano Archivi Astronomici).
HARPS-N and GIANO-B data:
Reduced in real time by dedicated pipelines.
Immediately available for quality check and scientific use.

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