The National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE) was created by presidential decree on November 11, 1971 as a decentralized body of public interest, with legal personality and its own, located in Tonantzintla, Puebla,
INAOE is heir to a great scientific tradition dating back to 1942, when Luis Enrique Erro founded the Tonantzintla Observatory. Back then, Tonantzintla was chosen as the ideal location for the installation of the Observatory, which met the high standards of quality and quantity and clear nights per year and geographical height and minimum light incidence nearby towns, because in the capital of the Republic was not possible to install a modern observatory