An international team of astronomers, in which IAC researchers participate, have discovered barium, the heaviest element ever found in an exoplanet atmosphere. It has been discovered at high altitudes in the atmosphere of the exoplanets WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b, two ultra-hot gas giants. The unexpected discovery, made possible by the ESPRESSO instrument at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), raises questions about what these exotic atmospheres may look like. WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b are no ordinary exoplanets. Both are referred to as ultra-hot Jupiters as

Research led by the University of Oxford and with the participation of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has succeeded in studying, for the first time, the tiny dust molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the nuclear region of luminous active galaxies. This work is one of the first studies to use spectroscopic data from the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) mid-infrared instrument (MIRI). Observing PAH molecules in the innermost regions of the galaxy is one of the best ways to study the influence of the central black hole in the evolution of the host