The professor of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics José Carlos Guirado has being named director of the Astronomic Observatory of the University of Valencia. Guirado is tenured professor of this academic institution since 2011 and five years later he joined up as a member of the Observatory, where he has made works of research and about dissemination of astronomy.
Guirado highlights the work of dissemination of scientific culture by the Astronomical Observatory for over one hundred years, as well as its connection between the progress of astronomy and society. For this reason, "it is a priority to emphasize the presence of the Observatory in the university community and in Valencian society in general through the Aula del Cel, the telescopes on Aras de los Olmos, courses, seminars and social networks," says the Director.
The telescopes on Aras de los Olmos are the main infrastructure of the Observatory and in the coming months "is planning to increase its activity as a teaching tool, aimed at students both undergraduate and masters, and it will accommodate new observation instruments in other lengths as a radio wave and infrared. This in turn will expand the scientific objectives of the Observatory" announces Guirado.
The new director of the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Valencia believes that this is a golden age of astronomical instrumentation, recently opened with great instruments and other soon to be finalized. Consequently, "the scientific exploitation of these instruments is a priority and to this end, the Observatory aims to create the right environment that allows interaction between astronomers at the University so as to establish synergies between their research and generate new projects."
José Carlos Guirado (Cartagena, 1966) wrote his doctoral thesis at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (CSIC) with long stays at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. And in 1994 he obtained a PhD from the University of Granada. He was a researcher of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory before joining as a teacher and researcher at the University of Valencia.
His research is dedicated to high-resolution studies of quasars and radio stars via radio intercontinental interferometry (VLBI). He has conducted pioneering work in infrared interferometry with new instruments like the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) by watching a program of very low mass objects. It also participates in the design of future interferometers such as Square Kilometre Array (SKA).
Regarding the task of dissemination of astronomy, Guirado is a frequent speaker at public lectures and courses in astronomy, also a screenwriter planetarium programs, some of which premiered at the Hemisfèric de la Ciutat de les Arts I les Ciències of Valencia.
More information: http://observatori.uv.es
Last update: 27 de september de 2013 08:56.
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