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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  • Eva Villaver Sobrino / IAC
    Eva Villaver, deputy director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, joins the top scientific advisory body of the European Space Agency
    Eva Villaver, Deputy Director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has been appointed by the European Space Agency (ESA) to the Space Science Advisory Committee (SSAC), the highest advisory body to ESA's Director of Science on all matters related to the organization's mandatory science program. This role complements Dr. Villaver's duties as Deputy Director of the IAC. The SSAC carries out a strategic oversight role, sitting above the specialized working groups in areas such as astronomy or solar system exploration. Furthermore, it is responsible for issuing recommendations on
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  • Artistic impression of a runaway star propelled by a supernova explosion
    Press release
    IAC researchers participate in the largest Milky Way study of massive runaway stars
    Researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), in collaboration with the Instituto de Ciencias del Cosmos de la Universidad de Barcelona (ICCUB) and the Instituto de Estudios Espaciales de Cataluña (IEEC), have carried out the largest observational study to date on massive runaway stars including rotation and binarity in the Milky Way. This work, recently published in Astronomy & Astrophysics , sheds light on how these stellar “fugitives” are launched into space and what their properties reveal about their intriguing origins. Runaway stars are stars that travel through
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  • MIT Astronomy Field Camp 2026
    Photomontage
    El MIT celebra su campamento astronómico en el Observatorio del Teide y comparte sus resultados en la ULL
    Este enero, el Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ha acogido, por cuarta vez, el MIT Astronomy Field Camp , el histórico campamento científico que el Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), considerada una de las mejores y más influyentes universidades a nivel mundial, ofrece a sus estudiantes de ciencias planetarias y astronomía con el objetivo de proporcionarles la experiencia real de trabajar en un observatorio profesional. En esta ocasión, nueve estudiantes han estado durante tres semanas en el Observatorio del Teide, en Tenerife, donde han realizado distintas observaciones
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  • Comparison between an observed galaxy (right) and a simulated galaxy (left)
    Research news
    An accurate measure of the size of dark matter haloes using the size of galaxies
    In the standard cosmological model (𝜦CDM), galaxies are merely the visible "tips of the icebergs," residing within massive, invisible cocoons of dark matter known as haloes. While these haloes dictate the evolution and motion of galaxies, measuring their true size and mass has long been one of the most challenging tasks in astrophysics. A new study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics by Claudio Dalla Vecchia and Ignacio Trujillo from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) proposes a breakthrough: a physically motivated definition of a galaxy’s edge that acts as a precision "ruler"
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  • ARKS gallery of faint debris disks
    Press release
    The IAC and the ULL participate in an unprecedented study with ALMA that reveals the Teenage Years of New Worlds
    An international team, with participation from the University of La Laguna (ULL) and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), have, for the first time, captured a detailed snapshot of planetary systems in an era long shrouded in mystery. The study, called ALMA survey to Resolve exoKuiper belt Substructures (ARKS) , is based on a series of 10 articles published simultaneously in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics and was carried out using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) . Thanks to this work, the sharpest images ever of 24 debris disks, the dusty belts left
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  • Ciclo de charlas divulgativas "Del Cielo a la Tesis"
    Press release
    Cúmulos estelares y fósiles galácticos, protagonistas de una nueva sesión de ‘Del Cielo a la Tesis’ del IAC
    El ciclo de charlas divulgativas Del Cielo a la Tesis, impulsado por el estudiantado predoctoral del Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) y la Universidad de La Laguna (ULL) para acercar la investigación en astrofísica a la ciudadanía, celebrará una nueva sesión el próximo 22 de enero de 2026 a las 16:30 horas en el Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos, del Organismo Autónomo de Museos y Centros del Cabildo de Tenerife. En esta ocasión, la cita propone un viaje al pasado de nuestra galaxia a través de dos ponencias que abordan cómo se forman y evolucionan los cúmulos de estrellas y cómo las
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