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| IPAC/Caltech | |
|---|---|
| Name | IPAC/Caltech |
| Formation | 1986 |
| Headquarters | Pasadena, California |
| Parent organization | California Institute of Technology |
IPAC/Caltech is a research center and operations laboratory specializing in infrared and submillimeter astronomy, data science, and mission operations. It supports space telescopes, ground-based observatories, and survey projects by providing science-driven data processing, archiving, and distribution. IPAC/Caltech collaborates with institutions, agencies, and missions across astrophysics, planetary science, and cosmology.
IPAC/Caltech provides scientific support for projects such as Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Spitzer Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, Herschel Space Observatory, and Kepler (spacecraft), while partnering with organizations like National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency, National Science Foundation, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and California Institute of Technology. Its activities span instrument calibration, pipeline development, archive maintenance, and community tools used by researchers at Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Space Telescope Science Institute, Carnegie Institution for Science, and University of California, Berkeley.
IPAC/Caltech traces origins to collaboration among Caltech groups and missions such as Infrared Astronomical Satellite, Cosmic Background Explorer, and Kuiper Airborne Observatory efforts involving researchers like Gautier D., Geoffrey Marcy, and Eugene A. (examples of personnel affiliated with related programs). Development continued through major initiatives including Two Micron All Sky Survey, SIRTF planning, SWIRE, and support for SOFIA programs. Institutional milestones linked to milestones at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Ames Research Center, and policy shifts at Office of Science and Technology Policy defined roles in data stewardship and mission support.
IPAC/Caltech staff operate and support instrument pipelines and archives for hardware such as the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer, Infrared Array Camera, Wide-field Infrared Camera, MIRI, NIRCam, and detectors used on Submillimeter Array, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and Keck Observatory. They integrate software and services with archives like NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes, VizieR, SIMBAD, and catalogs from Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Pan-STARRS1, and Gaia (spacecraft). Facilities in Pasadena interface with testing, simulation, and visualization resources employed by teams from Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, University of Arizona, and University of Colorado Boulder.
IPAC/Caltech has managed or contributed to major surveys and missions including Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Spitzer Space Telescope, Kepler (spacecraft), NEOWISE, Two Micron All Sky Survey, Pan-STARRS1, Zwicky Transient Facility, Herschel Space Observatory programs, and collaborations with Large Synoptic Survey Telescope planning. It provides pipeline processing and archives for cosmology and extragalactic surveys such as Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Dark Energy Survey, COSMOS (Cosmic Evolution Survey), and participates in time-domain projects like Palomar Transient Factory and All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae.
Research at IPAC/Caltech spans exoplanet detection tied to Kepler (spacecraft), Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, and radial-velocity programs involving teams around California Planet Survey and HARPS. Contributions include infrared studies of star formation referencing Orion Nebula, Taurus Molecular Cloud, and Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex; galaxy evolution work using data from COSMOS (Cosmic Evolution Survey), Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey, and Sloan Digital Sky Survey; and cosmology analyses engaging datasets from Planck (spacecraft), WMAP, and ground-based experiments like Atacama Cosmology Telescope and South Pole Telescope. IPAC/Caltech scientists collaborate with researchers connected to Noah Brosch, Eileen Friel, Alex Filippenko, Nick Suntzeff, and others across supernova cosmology, infrared photometry, and submillimeter astronomy.
Outreach programs leverage partnerships with museums and public institutions such as Griffith Observatory, Huntington Library, American Astronomical Society, International Astronomical Union, and educational initiatives tied to WISE (mission), Spitzer Space Telescope exhibits, and citizen science platforms like Zooniverse and Galaxy Zoo. IPAC/Caltech provides internships and fellowships coordinated with Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, NASA Postdoctoral Program, and collaborations with universities including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California, Los Angeles, Cornell University, and University of Michigan.
The center is embedded within California Institute of Technology administrative structures and receives funding from agencies and partners such as National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, European Space Agency, and foundations like Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and Simons Foundation. Governance involves coordination with project teams at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Headquarters, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and scientific advisory boards drawing experts from institutions including Carnegie Institution for Science, Max Planck Society, University of Cambridge, Princeton University, and University of Chicago.