News

This section includes scientific and technological news from the IAC and its Observatories, as well as press releases on scientific and technological results, astronomical events, educational projects, outreach activities and institutional events.

  • Triptófano en IC 348
    The IAC researcher Susana Iglesias-Groth has discovered the existence of tryptophan, an amino acid essential for the formation of proteins and the develoment of living organisms, within a stellar system in the Perseus Cloud. She did this using data from the Spitzer Space Observatory. The results of this finding are published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Tryptophan is one of the 20 amino acids considered essential for the formation of proteins, which are key macromolecules for the development of life on Earth. This amino acid has many spectral features in
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  • Poster AEACI 2023
    The "Astronomy Education Adventure in the Canary Islands 2023" will take place in Tenerife from 17 to 21 July and will mainly focus on research on the Solar System and extrasolar planets, highlighting the work carried out at the IAC and the Observatories of the Canary Islands. The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), together with other scientific and educational institutions, is organising the ninth edition of the "Astronomy Education Adventure in the Canary Islands" (AEACI). Under the title "Other Worlds", the latest discoveries and advances in research on extrasolar planets, the
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  • WASP-18b
    Using observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international scientific team, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participates, has identified water vapour in the atmosphere of WASP-18 b, a massive extrasolar planet, a so-called hot Jupiter, with a temperature of around 2.700 °C. The result is published in the journal Nature. Exoplanet WASP-18 b is about 400 light-years from Earth, is 10 times more massive than Jupiter and has an orbital period of less than a day. Its extreme proximity to its star, its relative closeness to Earth, and its large mass
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  • Artist's impression of LP 791-18 d
    An international research, with the participation of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has discovered an Earth-size exoplanet that may be carpeted with volcanoes. Called LP 791-18 d, the planet could undergo volcanic outbursts as often as Jupiter’s moon Io, the most volcanically active body in our solar system. The study is published in the scientific journal Nature. LP 791-18 d orbits a small red dwarf star about 90 light-years away in the southern constellation Crater. The team estimates it’s only slightly larger and more massive than Earth. Astronomers already knew about two
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  • Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888)
    Research carried out by a scientific team from the University of Heidelberg (UH), the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) has allowed them to solve the abundance discrepancy, a puzzle over 80 years old, about the chemical composition of the Universe. They find that the effect of the variations in temperatura in the large gas clouds where stars are born has led to the underestimation of the quantity of heavy elements in the Universe. The results have been published in the prestigious journal Nature . All the stars are born, live
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  • Galaxia diminuta RX J2129-z95
    Using first-of-their-kind observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international scientific team, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participates, finds a unique, minuscule galaxy that emitted its light more than 13 billion years ago. The galaxy, detected through gravitational lensing, is one of the smallest ever discovered at this distance and has an extremely high star formation rate for its size. This discovery could help astronomers learn more about galaxies that were present shortly after the Universe came into existence. The paper is published in
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