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The Urania Group (Sabadell Astronomical Association) receives the 4th Javier Gorosabel Prize

During the 17th Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA), held in Tarragona from 13 to 17 July 2026, the 4th Javier Gorosabel Prize for ProAm Collaboration in Astrophysics was presented. The Urania Group of the Agrupación Astronómica de Sabadell received a commemorative trophy consisting of a bronze reproduction of asteroid 6192 Javiergorosabel, named by the International Astronomical Union in 2017 in recognition of astronomer Javier Gorosabel’s scientific career. The award also includes a certificate and the opportunity to use, free of charge, one of the professional observatories sponsoring this initiative.

The SEA ProAm Commission wishes to thank Calar Alto Observatory, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre, the Parc Astronòmic del Montsec and the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada for their continued support, whose commitment has been fundamental since the launch of these calls. It also expresses its gratitude to the Federación de Asociaciones Astronómicas de España (FAAE) and the Eibar City Council / Eibarko Udala for their collaboration.

First-class science

Collaboration between amateur and professional astronomers continues to demonstrate its ability to produce first-class science. The project led by the Urania Exoplanet Group of the Agrupación Astronómica de Sabadell has completed an intensive observing campaign that places it among the most active ProAm initiatives monitoring exoplanets of interest to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ariel mission.

The Urania Group has carried out 163 nights of observations using European professional telescopes, providing high-precision measurements to ExoClock, the international programme that will support the European Space Agency’s Ariel space mission.

The aim of the project is to contribute to the scientific preparation of Ariel, which is scheduled for launch in 2029 and will study the atmospheres of around one thousand exoplanets. To this end, the award-winning team actively participates in ExoClock, an international collaboration responsible for refining the ephemerides of candidate planets through precise observations of their transits.

Since the beginning of the project, the Urania Group has had access to Europlanet’s network of professional telescopes, using the 1.23 m telescope at Calar Alto Observatory, the IAC80 telescope at Teide Observatory and the Joan Oró Telescope at Montsec Observatory. These facilities have enabled the completion of 163 observing nights, many of them devoted to particularly challenging exoplanets because of the shallow depth of their transits or because they show variations in the timing of their passages in front of their host stars. The database has been expanded with new characteristics for special cases of “transit timing variation” (TTV) and “spot-crossing”, in which the planet transits in front of starspots, producing a very distinctive light-curve shape.

One of the most significant aspects of the project has been the observation of systems considered priorities by ExoClock. These include CoRoT-10b, whose observations with the 1.23 m telescope at Calar Alto have confirmed significant deviations from the predicted transit times; TOI-4479b, whose monitoring has led to its classification as an alert target; WASP-148b, where timing variations compatible with the gravitational influence of a second planet have been confirmed; K2-36c, one of the most demanding targets because of the extremely small decrease in brightness during transit; and TOI-3082b, a system whose orbital evolution continues to be monitored internationally.

All the results obtained have been validated and incorporated into the international ExoClock database, helping to improve the planning of future Ariel observations and facilitating the study of possible orbital variations in these planetary systems.

The collaboration of the professional teams operating the 1.23 m telescope at Calar Alto, the IAC80 telescope in the Canary Islands and the Joan Oró Telescope at Montsec Observatory has been crucial to the development of the project led by the Urania Group. Their advice and support in organising the observations, together with the transfer of the methodology developed, have made a decisive contribution to the success of the initiative.

In addition to its scientific output, the project has also carried out significant outreach activities. Since 2022, several of its members have given lectures and workshops at national and international events, including professional conferences.

4th Javier Gorosabel Prize

The jury of this 4th Javier Gorosabel Prize for ProAm Collaboration in Astrophysics consisted of Javier de Elías Cantalapiedra, an engineer and member of the Agrupación Astronómica de Madrid, where he coordinates the photometry and spectroscopy groups; Blanca Troughton Luque, a mathematician and member of the Sociedad Malagueña de Astronomía, which she chaired for 24 years; and Javier Peralta Calvillo, PhD in Astrophysics and lecturer at the University of Seville. They unanimously highlighted the value of this project as an example of effective ProAm collaboration between amateur astronomy and professional research.

Urania’s success demonstrates that professionally coordinated access to first-class scientific infrastructure, combined with the training and experience of amateur observers, can generate highly valuable data for international space projects. The experience accumulated over these years has made the group a European reference in the photometric monitoring of exoplanets and reinforces the role that the amateur community can play in the major scientific missions of the future.

The SEA ProAm Commission emphasises that this prize has two equally important main objectives. The first is to recognise and reward collaboration between professional and amateur astronomers in Spain. Astronomy is probably one of the sciences in which the amateur community has played, and continues to play, a particularly prominent role. Indeed, this has historically been one of the defining features of the discipline: amateur astronomers not only carry out high-quality observations using increasingly sophisticated instrumentation, but also participate in coordinated campaigns to monitor transient phenomena, in the discovery and monitoring of comets, asteroids and supernovae, and in citizen-science programmes. Thanks to their numbers (there are more than 9,000 people affiliated with the FAAE), their geographical distribution and their ability to devote substantial amounts of time to observing, the amateur community complements the work of professional observatories and makes a significant contribution to the generation of scientific knowledge.

The second objective is to pay tribute to our dear colleague and distinguished scientist Javier Gorosabel Urkia (1969–2015), whose contribution was decisive in the development of this collaboration. Ten years have passed since his death, but his scientific and personal legacy remains deeply alive among those of us who had the privilege of working with him. Javier Gorosabel was an exceptional researcher, internationally recognised for his important contributions to the study of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), their different classes and their origins. An astronomer by vocation, he stood out for his scientific rigour, meticulousness and the exceptional care with which he approached every research project. His enthusiasm for science, his ability to foster collaborations and his generosity towards colleagues and students left an indelible mark on the astronomical community.

With this tribute, we wish to remember not only a brilliant scientist, but also a cherished colleague whose passion for understanding the Universe and whose outstanding human qualities continue to inspire us all. Ten years later, his memory remains with us and continues to form part of the history and spirit of this collaboration.

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Transit of exoplanet CoRoT-10b observed with the 1.23 m telescope

 

REFERENCES 

The light curves published in ExoClock can be consulted for each member of the observing team:

 

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