9 institutions from 7 European countries today signed the documents for this organization, which will prepare the way towards the future construction of the European Solar Telescope (EST) One of the main aims of the EST is to improve our understanding of the Sun by observing its magnetic fields in unprecedented detail Representatives from 8 institutions in 7 European countries, among which are the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) this morning in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, signed the founding documents of the Canary

An international scientific team, including the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has detected distortions in the brightness of a galaxy's disc that could be explained by the gravitational effect of an unknown neighbouring galaxy. Named GTC-1, the satellite galaxy was discovered using ultra-deep images obtained with the OSIRIS camera of the Gran Telescopio Canarias, located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma. The finding provides a possible explanation for a puzzle about way the light fades out at the edges of galaxy disks, a mystery that has bothered the

The first test images from its two instruments show its potential for achieving its scientific goals. These images will be used to check the instruments and to see how Euclid can be adjusted and fine tuned for best performance. The European Space Agency (ESA)’s Euclid mission, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is participating, will produce the biggest and most accurate 3D map of the universe. Euclid’s two instruments VIS (VISible instrument) and NISP (Near Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer) have taken their first test images. The results indicated that this space