An international scientific team, including researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the University of La Laguna (ULL), have discovered magnetic waves in sunspots with such a high energy flux that they could keep the Sun's atmosphere at millions of degrees. The finding adds a new missing piece to the puzzle of why the Sun's outer layers are hotter than its surface despite being further away from the source of heat. The results are published in the journal Nature Astronomy. The Sun is powered by nuclear fusion of hydrogen at the core, where the temperature reaches

A pioneering study from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) which combines laboratory chemistry with astrophysics, has shown for the first time that grains of dust formed by carbon and hydrogen in a highly disordered state, known as HAC, can take part in the formation of fullerenes, carbon molecules which are of key importance for the development of life in the universe, and with potential applications in nanotechnology. The results are published as a Letter to the Editor in the prestigious journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Fullerenes are carbon molecules which are very big