Outreach
The Montsec Observatory is a research infrastructure intended for scientific use and technological development. However, the IEEC also opens its facilities to education and training in different areas:
what do we offer?
Education
Visits for secondary school or university students, by appointment only, for small groups, and designed for students who are studying astronomy and space science. Astronomers at the observatory present, during the day and on a tour of approximately 1 hour, the different telescopes of the observatory and the science they do.
Counselling on high school research projects, using open data from the Joan Oró telescope and with the help of IEEC astronomers.
University internships and final degree or master’s thesis, working with the observatory’s astronomers in the analysis of astrophysical data or collaborating with the technological development of telescopes and other equipment.
Guided tours
Given the characteristics and location of the Montsec Observatory, it is normally closed to the general public and guided tours are only organised on the occasion of open days or sessions arranged on demand aimed at students, amateurs or professionals in the field.
On these visits, the IEEC offers the opportunity to take a guided tour of the observatory’s facilities, such as the different telescopes (the Joan Oró, the Fabra-ROA Montsec and the XO-Montsec), the equipment for meteorological measurements (Meteorological Service of Catalonia) or environment ones (Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research) and the Montsec Satellite Ground Station (SGS Montsec, UPC – IEEC). The IEEC astronomers explain how the instruments work, what scientific discoveries have recently been made at the observatory and how communication with nanosatellites is carried out.
If you are interested in getting to know the observatory from the field of education and teaching, you can contact us through the form.
Virtual tour to the Montsec Observatory (OdM – IEEC)