Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur (OCA)
Le Mont Gros - Bd. de l'Observatoire - B.P. 4229
06304 Nice Cedex 4
OCA (Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur) represents the merging of the Nice Observatory (founded in 1881) and the Center for Study and Reserch in Geodynamics and Astrometry (CERGA, created in 1974). The Nice Observatory was the first scientific research institut installed in this region, thanks to Raphael Bischoffsheim and some friends like Gustaf Eiffel and Charles Garnier, who were responsible for the original plans of the buildings. OCA is the second largest observatory in France, after the Paris-Meudon Observatory. Today about 200 people work at the OCA, settled in three different sites: Nice, Grasse and Calern. In the later are localized the main observational instruments: a Schmidt telescope, a lunar-laser, a satellite-laser, and the largest optical interferometer in the world (GI2T). OCA interacts with many technological and industrial groups, and in particular with Aerospatiale, installed in the Cote d'Azur region, owing to its advanced skill in specific domains related to astronomical research like optics, time & frequency metrology, ultra-fast lasers, imagery and advanced numerical simulations. OCA develops a research program in gravitation, with emphasis to the detection of gravitational waves, hosting a team of about ten researchers, with the leadership of A. Brillet, and with a direct participation in the VIRGO project.
Laser experiment for
the high precision
measurement of earth-moon distance