Past Event Overview

The essential astronomical telescopes and instrumentation event, where top experts provide the latest information on interferometry, adaptive optics, observatory operations, systems engineering, and more.

  • 2100 Attendees
  • 1900 Presentations
  • 60 Exhibitors

This year's theme was: Synergies Between Ground and Space

The meeting concluded 28 June. 

The ancient Mediterranean port city of Marseille played host to SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation this year. Over 2,000 attendees from around the globe gathered at the single most important event for telescope builders and maintainers.

No other event in the world draws this elite, focused group of researchers, innovators, and companies—experts whose goal is to develop the technology enabling the discovery of the nature and origin of the Universe. It was a powerful week of conferences, courses, and exhibits focused on technology enabling the frontier of scientific discovery.

1,900 Technical Papers on:

Technology Advances

Advanced Optical and Mechanical Technologies in Telescopes and Instrumentation
Advanced Software and Control for Astronomy
Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy
High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy

Telescopes and Systems

Space Telescopes and Instrumentation I: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave 2008
Space Telescopes and Instrumentation II: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray 2008
Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes
Optical and Infrared Interferometry
Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy II
Adaptive Optics Systems
Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems
Modeling, Systems Engineering, and Project Management for Astronomy

7 Courses covering:

Adaptive Optics
Astronomical Optics for Astronomers
An Introduction To Scalable Frameworks for Observatory Software Infrastructure
Opto-mechanics for Astronomical Instrumentation Developers – NEW
Imaging Detectors for Astronomy – NEW
CMOS Imaging Sensor Architecture, Construction, and Applications – NEW
Introduction to Visible and NIR Spectrograph Design and Development for Astronomy – NEW

60 Exhibitors offering the latest technology:

SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation is the only event drawing this highly specialized group of technology leaders, a group that is focused on enabling discoveries in our galaxy and beyond.

2008 Symposium Chairs:

Mark C. Clampin
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (USA)

Alan F. Moorwood European Southern Observatory (Germany)


2008 Symposium Co-chairs:

Masanori Iye
National Astronomical Observatory (Japan)

Douglas A. Simons Gemini Observatory (USA)


Local Organizing Committee

Jean-Gabriel Cuby, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM / OAMP)
Katia Mirochnitchenko, "Competitiveness cluster" OPTITEC (POPsud)
Thierry Botti, Observatoire Astronomique de Marseille Provence (OAMP)
Jacques Boulesteix, "Competitiveness cluster" OPTITEC (POPsud)
Marc Ferrari, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM / OAMP)
Bruno Milliard, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM / OAMP)
Eric Prieto, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM / OAMP)
Hervé Le Coroller, Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP/OAMP)
Frédérique Lepine, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM / OAMP)