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Calar Alto upgrades its 1.23-meter telescope with a state-of-the-art wide-field detector

GRB260310AAlmeria, May 5th, 2026

The Calar Alto Observatory is renewing the instrumentation of its 1.23-meter telescope with the commissioning of a new camera based on sCMOS technology, which offers a wide field of view and a high sensitivity while capturing images at high speed.

This camera, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities through the State Research Agency (reference EQC2024-008783-P), ensures that the 1.23-meter telescope—the first installed at the observatory in 1975 and upgraded for remote operation—remains highly competitive.

An Irish academy in Calar Alto tracks down a gamma-ray burst

GRB260310AAlmería, 16 March 2026

While training with the Calar Alto 1.23 m telescope, a group of students from University College Dublin managed to observe the optical counterpart of a newly discovered transient event known as Gamma-Ray Burst, nearly three days after it violently exploded. This target of opportunity observation was key to coordinate observations with larger telescopes in Calar Alto and worldwide. This has allowed the students to significantly contribute to the process of building scientific evidence to reveal the true nature of this peculiar violent phenomenon.

CARMENES succeeds in characterizing the atmospheric composition of the exoplanet GJ 436 b with record precision

portadaAlmería, 29 January 2026

A study based on observations from the CARMENES instrument has made it possible to gain deeper insight into the atmosphere of GJ 436 b, a Neptune-like exoplanet that orbits very close to a red dwarf and undergoes intense atmospheric loss.
The results reveal the presence of clouds in extremely high atmospheric layers and an exceptional metallicity, about 900 times higher than that of the Sun, significantly expanding our understanding of the evolution of this type of exoplanet.

 

A new comet discovered with the Schmidt telescope at Calar Alto

portadaAlmería, 20 January 2026

In the framework of the Space Safety program of the European Space Agency (ESA), Rainer Kresken, an ESA engineer observing remotely with the Calar Alto Schmidt telescope, reported in December 2025 the discovery of a new comet, P/2025 W3 (Kresken). This is the second comet “Made in CAHA”, after comet Thiele (C/1985 T1) discovered forty years ago con el mismo telescopio.

  1. The President of the CSIC visits Calar Alto
  2. ¡Esta Navidad, ni una estrella menos!
  3. UNIR connects its academic training with Calar Alto