An international team of researchers, including staff from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has discovered a planetary nebula that destroyed its own planetary system, conserving the remaining fragments in the form of dust orbiting its central star. To date, more than 5000 exoplanets have been discovered orbiting stars of all kinds and almost every stage of stellar evolution. However, while exoplanets have been discovered around white dwarfs – the final stage in the evolution of low- and intermediate-mass stars like the Sun, no exoplanets have been detected in the previous

The EU-funded EDUCADO project (Exploring the Deep Universe by Computational Analysis of Data from Observations) at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is organising a two-night astronomical observation school providing hands-on research training for early-stage researchers in astronomy and computer science. The program will convene 15 doctoral candidates from across Europe for an immersive, interdisciplinary learning experience. Attendees will engage in night time astronomical observations utilizing state-of-the-art telescopic instrumentation, guided data analysis workshops, and

On Wednesday 30 October, the headquarters of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) received a talk by the first Swiss astronaut, Claude Nicollier, who wanted to share his experience in space with the personnel of the IAC. Claude Nicollier is the first Swiss astronaut to have flown into space. After his studies at the Universities of Geneva and Lausanne, Claude joined ESA as a member of their first group of astronauts. Since 2007 Nicollier has been a Professor at the Federal Polytechnical School at Lausanne. He has spent more than 1000 hours in space (more than 42 days) including a