{"id":6492,"date":"2026-06-10T14:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T14:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/an-italian-delegation-at-teide-science-diplomacy-and-the-future-of-astrophysics\/2026\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T15:13:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:13:47","slug":"an-italian-delegation-at-teide-science-diplomacy-and-the-future-of-astrophysics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/an-italian-delegation-at-teide-science-diplomacy-and-the-future-of-astrophysics\/2026\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"An Italian delegation at Teide: science, diplomacy, and the future of Astrophysics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mq8498r3-e4114ac99eb0b24847f378a989a99aa9\">\n#top .av-special-heading.av-mq8498r3-e4114ac99eb0b24847f378a989a99aa9{\npadding-bottom:10px;\n}\nbody .av-special-heading.av-mq8498r3-e4114ac99eb0b24847f378a989a99aa9 .av-special-heading-tag .heading-char{\nfont-size:25px;\n}\n.av-special-heading.av-mq8498r3-e4114ac99eb0b24847f378a989a99aa9 .av-subheading{\nfont-size:15px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='av-special-heading av-mq8498r3-e4114ac99eb0b24847f378a989a99aa9 av-special-heading-h3  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-first '><h3 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >An Italian delegation at Teide: science, diplomacy, and the future of Astrophysics<\/h3><div class=\"special-heading-border\"><div class=\"special-heading-inner-border\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-mq85q47y-7eb74d3dabd006628bea0363470eb7cc '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By Silvia Casu (INAF Officer responsible for the SRT PE and INAF-Cagliari)\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n<div  class='flex_column av-3ognnp-f115064f93c47ca6d53a1b3267f59311 av_two_third  avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_textblock  el_before_av_one_third  first flex_column_div  column-top-margin'     ><section  class='av_textblock_section av-mq84e1if-23761019d2af4adfe477efa7190bd3c9 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p data-start=\"201\" data-end=\"830\">On May 22, I was on board the training ship <em data-start=\"245\" data-end=\"263\">Amerigo Vespucci<\/em>, docked in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, to take part in <em data-start=\"315\" data-end=\"338\">Islas entre las ondas<\/em>, a roundtable on the Italian bid for the Einstein Telescope, organised by the Italian Vice Consulate in Arona with the support of the Scientific Office of the Italian Embassy in Madrid. It was certainly an extraordinary experience, both for the topic and, of course, for the setting. But there is another experience that will stay with me for a very long time: the visit the following day to the Canary Islands Astrophysical Observatory on Mount Teide, where the ASTRI Mini-Array is located.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"832\" data-end=\"1219\">I had already been to Teide in 2013 for a European project on astro-tourism. At that time, that part of the observatory did not yet exist: there were a few telescopes and the solar tower, and then only volcanic ground, a lunar-like landscape, and the sky. Seeing it again now, with the red structures and shining mirrors emerging from the green landscape, struck me in an unexpected way.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1221\" data-end=\"1881\">The ASTRI Mini-Array, coordinated by INAF (PI: Giovanni Pareschi), is an instrument born from Italian ingenuity to explore the invisible Universe: the one revealed only through very-high-energy gamma rays, through violent and fleeting cosmic phenomena that still hide many of their secrets. I know those telescopes on paper, from scientific publications, and from colleagues who handle their communication. But seeing them in person, at altitude with the Atlantic in the background, is a completely different kind of knowledge. It made me reflect on how much time and how many people are needed to transform a scientific idea into steel, optics, and real data.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1883\" data-end=\"2734\">The visit was made possible thanks to Adriano Ghedina, director of the <em>Fundaci\u00f3n Galileo Galilei<\/em>, which supports Italian facilities in the Canaries<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00b9<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span> who welcomed us with the generosity of someone who knows that certain encounters go beyond any agenda. With us were Alberto Masoni, senior researcher at INFN and coordinator of the ETIC project for the Einstein Telescope, Monique Bossi, Francesca Mazzotta and Marina Picari (INFN), and Sergio Scopetta, scientific attach\u00e9 at the Italian Embassy in Madrid. A small group, but one that well represented the complexity and richness of Italian Astrophysics: different instruments, different institutions, but the same direction of vision.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div  class='flex_column av-321h0l-224518f7cd7976d2571e686a31eaf864 av_one_third  avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_two_third  el_before_av_textblock  flex_column_div  column-top-margin'     ><style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mq85p2au-c31c45870cd5f8a3a96cf3d5c763d068\">\n.avia-image-container.av-mq85p2au-c31c45870cd5f8a3a96cf3d5c763d068 img.avia_image{\nbox-shadow:none;\n}\n.avia-image-container.av-mq85p2au-c31c45870cd5f8a3a96cf3d5c763d068 .av-image-caption-overlay-center{\ncolor:#ffffff;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='avia-image-container av-mq85p2au-c31c45870cd5f8a3a96cf3d5c763d068 av-styling- avia-align-center  avia-builder-el-5  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '   itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><div class=\"avia-image-container-inner\"><div class=\"avia-image-overlay-wrap\"><img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class='wp-image-6503 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-6503 avia_image ' src=\"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Notizia-Silvia-Casu_Gruppo-Teide-1.jpeg\" alt='The Italian delegation during their visit to the Instituto de Astrof\u00edsica de Canarias (IAC).' title='Notizia Silvia Casu_Gruppo Teide'  height=\"684\" width=\"513\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"  \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><section  class='av_textblock_section av-mq85r07r-83f362a397e5e0388c05118829d58e17 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\" data-conversation-screenshot-content=\"\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"5b734160-00b0-4cd0-9331-64490134f885\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-3-mini\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full dark markdown-new-styling\">\n<p data-start=\"2736\" data-end=\"3380\">Adriano told us not only the history of this project (a story rooted in vision, as ASTRI was conceived as the technological precursor of the future Small Size Telescopes of CTAO, the major international Cherenkov observatory that will be built in Chile) but also its scientific and technological essence. I was fascinated by the segmented dual-mirror design of the telescopes, a configuration that allows a field of view of over 10 degrees, enough to cover entire regions of the sky in a single pointing and observe dozens of sources simultaneously. A technology that, I am convinced, will have impacts and applications far beyond Astrophysics.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3382\" data-end=\"4062\">The link between the Canaries and Sardinia, between the ASTRI Mini-Array and the Einstein Telescope, between gamma rays, radio waves, and gravitational waves, was at the heart of the roundtable on board the Vespucci. Two islands, different research infrastructures, one shared vision: that of multi-messenger astronomy capable of reading the Universe through ALL its languages. Coming from Cagliari, I spoke about the Sardinia Radio Telescope, its role in the global observation network, and how each new instrument does not replace the previous ones but adds another sense to listening to the Universe. I spoke about cooperation, and how astrophysical knowledge is a team effort.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4064\" data-end=\"4491\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Bringing this message aboard a ship that travels the world as a symbol of Italy, in front of Spanish researchers, diplomatic institutions, and enthusiasts of physics and astronomy, was a privilege. And then returning to Teide, looking at our telescopes pointing toward a sky that never stops surprising us, brought the Spanish mission to a close in the most extraordinary\u2014and I would say most fitting\u2014way I could have imagined.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"z-0 flex min-h-[46px] justify-start\"><strong>Note:<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00b9 First and foremost the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo, but now also the ASTRI Mini-Array and the STRIP telescope for studying the cosmic microwave background radiation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p>\n<div  class='flex_column av-4c0s2d-1e7a028da46a3a944915b722c56549c5 av_one_half  avia-builder-el-7  el_after_av_textblock  el_before_av_one_half  first flex_column_div  column-top-margin'     ><style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mq85rvwg-6577eabbb5b0ba0fecc8492f6838f1d7\">\n.avia-image-container.av-mq85rvwg-6577eabbb5b0ba0fecc8492f6838f1d7 img.avia_image{\nbox-shadow:none;\n}\n.avia-image-container.av-mq85rvwg-6577eabbb5b0ba0fecc8492f6838f1d7 .av-image-caption-overlay-center{\ncolor:#ffffff;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='avia-image-container av-mq85rvwg-6577eabbb5b0ba0fecc8492f6838f1d7 av-styling- avia-align-center  avia-builder-el-8  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '   itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><div class=\"avia-image-container-inner\"><div class=\"avia-image-overlay-wrap\"><img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class='wp-image-6499 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-6499 avia_image ' src=\"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Notizia-Silvia-Casu_Astri-1-1.jpg\" alt='The ASTRI-1 telescope.' title='Notizia Silvia Casu_Astri 1'  height=\"400\" width=\"300\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"  \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div  class='flex_column av-2103h1-af94fbcb3cc150e2f8ebd23316a8bace av_one_half  avia-builder-el-9  el_after_av_one_half  avia-builder-el-last  flex_column_div  column-top-margin'     ><style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mq85sf61-e6b4af712672358d4b8c7f001dd5f081\">\n.avia-image-container.av-mq85sf61-e6b4af712672358d4b8c7f001dd5f081 img.avia_image{\nbox-shadow:none;\n}\n.avia-image-container.av-mq85sf61-e6b4af712672358d4b8c7f001dd5f081 .av-image-caption-overlay-center{\ncolor:#ffffff;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='avia-image-container av-mq85sf61-e6b4af712672358d4b8c7f001dd5f081 av-styling- avia-align-center  avia-builder-el-10  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '   itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><div class=\"avia-image-container-inner\"><div class=\"avia-image-overlay-wrap\"><img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class='wp-image-6501 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-6501 avia_image ' src=\"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Notizia-Silvia-Casu_Astri-Ghedina-1.jpg\" alt='Adriano Ghedina and the ASTRI-1 telescope.' title='Notizia Silvia Casu_Astri Ghedina'  height=\"400\" width=\"300\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"  \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Between the Amerigo Vespucci and the Teide Observatory, Silvia Casu recounts a journey that brought together research, diplomacy, and international cooperation. At its heart was the ASTRI Mini-Array, a symbol of Italy\u2019s vision for the future of Astrophysics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6492"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6497,"href":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6492\/revisions\/6497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astri.inaf.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}