Astrophysics Division // UMR Astrophysics Instrumentation Modelisation
DAp (Astrophysics Division), a joint research unit within Irfu, is an internationally recognized major space laboratory.
In direct collaboration with CNES, which is responsible for the space activities of French laboratories, SAp is strongly involved in space missions for ESA's Cosmic Vision scientific program and on bilateral missions supported by CNES. The development of astrophysics at the CEA began in partnership with CNES since its creation in the early 1960s
It is heavily involved in numerous research projects covering the fields of astrophysics, instrumentation and numerical simulation. In particular, the laboratory realizes and exploits instruments installed on large telescopes or on-board in space (in low orbit, at Lagrangian points, around Saturn, ...) within the framework of the space or bilateral missions. The DAp also has access to the largest computers in Europe for its numerical simulations based on the "multi-scale" analysis (from the scale of planets to galaxy clusters) which make it possible to trace the structure of the universe over time. The laboratory also relies on advanced technical expertise in the field of system architecture, quality, electronics and spatial spectro-imagers.
