On 10 and 11 June, the IACTEC facilities – the technology transfer and business collaboration hub of the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics (IAC) – will host the meeting of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Science Programme Committee (SPC), the body responsible for deciding how funds allocated to ESA’s science programme should be managed and for what purposes. The meeting in Tenerife brings together representatives from the 23 ESA member states and specialists involved in the planning, selection and monitoring of the scientific projects that will shape European space science in the

On 12 August, to mark the total eclipse that will be visible across much of Spain, various towns in Palencia — including the capital, Frómista and Carrión de los Condes — will host a series of observation and outreach events bringing together scientists and students from Spain, Morocco and the United States. This event will serve as a training exercise for the NATE experiment, which will take place in North Africa during the next total eclipse next year, and will act as a meeting point between depopulated areas of Spain, the outermost regions, and Moroccan, American and Spanish students and

An international scientific team, involving the University of La Laguna (ULL) and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has identified the cause of an unusually long dimming of a distant star . The phenomenon is explained by the passage of a substellar object with a giant ring system, similar to a ‘cosmic saucer’, in front of the host star. The star, named ASASSN-24fw, is located in the Monoceros constellation at about 3,000 light-years away from Earth. The star faded steadily for more than nine months between late 2024 and mid-2025 to about 97% dark before returning to its normal