News

This section includes scientific and technological news from the IAC and its Observatories, as well as press releases on scientific and technological results, astronomical events, educational projects, outreach activities and institutional events.

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  • Cosmic Seahorse
    Press release
    Astronomers find Milky Way analogue galaxy in the early universe

    An international team, including researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), used combined data from different radio telescopes located in Spain to probe the mode of star formation in a galaxy when the universe had less than 30% of its current age. They revealed that the properties of the molecular gas reservoir are similar to the one of our own Galaxy, unseen up to now in the distant universe. The paper is published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. A major question in the study of galaxies is on the mode of star formation, how efficient the conversion of cold gas

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  • DES
    Press release
    Astronomers confirm the existence of a cosmic supervoid that challenges our understanding of dark energy

    Research by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) collaboration, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participates, has confirmed the presence of a supervoid, an extremely large region with a lower-than-average density of matter, in the constellation Eridanus. Its study could provide new clues to understanding the nature of dark energy. The result is published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The possibility of mapping the largest structures in the Universe has always been an aspiration of astrophysics. After the meticulous charting of our cosmic backyard

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  • GJ 367b illustration. The planet orbits around a red dwarf every 7.7 hours. Its bulk density is close to that of iron, interior structure models predict a similar structure to Mercury’s interior. (Image credit: SPP 1992 (Patricia Klein)).
    Research news
    A dense ultra-short period sub-Earth planet transiting a nearby red dwarf star

    Ultrashort-period (USP) exoplanets have orbital periods shorter than 1 day. Precise masses and radii of USP exoplanets could provide constraints on their unknown formation and evolution processes. We report the detection and characterization of the USP planet GJ 367b using high-precision photometry and radial velocity observations. GJ 367b orbits a bright (V-band magnitude of 10.2), nearby, and red (M-type) dwarf star every 7.7 hours. GJ 367b has a radius of 0.718 ± 0.054 Earth-radii and a mass of 0.546 ± 0.078 Earth-masses, making it a sub-Earth planet. The corresponding bulk density is 8

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  • ESPRESSO
    Press release
    ESPRESSO puts the physical constants to the test

    Why does gravity have the strength it has? What exactly determines the value of the electromagnetic force? Are the laws of Physics the same in any part of the universe and at any instant in time? Measurements made with the ESPRESSO high resolution spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) have permitted the determination of one of the fundamental constants of Physics when the universe was only 40% of its present age, helping to find an answer to one of these questions. The study, in which a leading group of researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participated, is

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  • M87
    Press release
    The “last breaths” in the lives of galaxies

    A team of astronomers has discovered that galaxies with an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) –hosting continuously growing black holes that emit large amounts of energy and radiation– may undergo a period of rapid star birth before shutting down completely. The research, conducted by astronomers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the University of Southampton and the Institute of Space Sciences, ICE (IEEC- CSIC) , was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. The Universe is filled with trillions of galaxies, each one comprising billions of stars

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  • GJ 367 b
    Press release
    Astronomers discover an ultra-light and super-fast sub-Earth orbiting a red dwarf

    An international team, including researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has discovered an extrasolar planet with half the mass of the Earth that takes approximately eight hours to orbit its parent star, a red dwarf just under 31 light-years from Earth. Called GJ 367 b, it is one of the lightest among the nearly 5.000 exoplanets known today. With a diameter of just over 9000 kilometres, this sub-Earth is slightly larger than Mars. The discovery not only demonstrates that it is possible to precisely determine the event the smallest, least massive exoplanets, but also

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