8. Support for the operation and educational implementation of CESAR’s telescopes

ESA supervisor: Juan Ángel Vaquerizo
Collaborator(s): Marina Rodríguez Baras, Ricardo Rizzo, María Herranz

Site: ESAC

CESAR (Cooperation through Education in Science and Astronomy Research) is a joint educational programme developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) and the public company ISDEFE. It is based at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain. Its main goal is to provide students and teachers from European schools with hands-on educational materials and resources about Astrophysics and Space Sciences, to be carried out in the classroom, as well as easy access to ESA´s data archive and to optical and radio telescopes. The CESAR Project comprises three observatories: a solar observatory with three telescopes, currently operational; a 0.5 m optical telescope at the Cebreros Observatory, which has been fully refurbished and will be operational from January 2026; and two smaller optical telescopes, which will be upgraded throughout 2026. These telescopes serve as resources for the CESAR project's educational activities.

The main objectives of this internship are: 1. Support for the educational implementation of the 0.5 m optical telescope at the Cebreros Observatory, by creating observational cases and developing the system that will allow educational institutions to request and carry out their own observations. 2. Support for the operation of the solar and Cebreros telescopes, as well as the development of software to manage the acquired data. This includes the support in the design of a CESAR data archive, with data curation and search tools.

Project duration: 6 months.

Desirable expertise or programming language:

  • Good understanding  of astronomical concepts.
  • Familiar with the use of telescopes.
  • Programing skills based in astronomical software, like phyton, ASCOM.
  • Familiarity with all computer parts and hardware, to be able to add new components in case of need.
  • Pedagogical skills to apply in school observations. 
  • Capable of working in international teams.
  • Fluent in English (reading and writing).
  • Creative, capable to meet milestones within schedules.

To apply for this project please fill in an online application form through the following link.

To see the full list of Internships available at ESA please go to our website for ESA Career Opportunities.