An international team of astronomers, including researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the University of Liège and collaborators in UK, Chile, the USA, and Europe, has discovered a transiting giant planet orbiting the smallest known star to host such a companion — a finding that defies current theories of planet formation. The host star, TOI-6894 , is a red dwarf with only 20% the mass of the Sun , typical of the most common stars in our galaxy. Until now, such low-mass stars were not thought capable of forming or retaining giant planets. But as published today in

An international scientific team, including members of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has launched an ambitious program to map exoplanets located around the Neptunian Desert —a region around stars where planets the size of Neptune are very rare— in order to better understand the mechanisms of planetary system evolution and formation. This scientific expedition has delivered its first results with the observation of the TOI-421 planetary system. Analysis of this system reveals a surprisingly inclined orbital architecture, offering new insights into the chaotic history of

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is strengthening its commitment to Equality and, to coincide with the commemoration of March 8th, International Women’s Day, is presenting its IV Plan for Equality. This document covers the active work within the IAC to support Equality and Fairness in the working and institutional environment, and proposes specific measures to ensure that both of these aims are achieved. The IAC has pioneered the introduction of policies of Equality in the field of science in Spain. Even before the approval of the Organic Law 3/2007 for the effective equality