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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  • El presidente del Cabildo de La Palma, Sergio Rodríguez, entrega la estrella a Jocelyn Bell juntoa Eva Villaver y a Garik Israelian.
    Press release
    Jocelyn Bell, reconocida con la quinta estrella del Paseo de las Estrellas
    La reconocida astrofísica Jocelyn Bell ha sido reconocida con la quinta estrella del Paseo de la Ciencia de Santa Cruz de La Palma, reconociendo su labor en defensa de la igualdad y los descubrimientos realizados. Un reconocimiento que ha sido simbólicamente entregado por el presidente del Cabildo de La Palma, Sergio Rodríguez, en un acto en el que ha participado la subdirectora del Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Eva Villaver y el director del Festival Starmus, Garik Israelian. La subdirectora del IAC agradeció a Bell el trabajo científico realizado en toda su carrera y
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  • Claudie Nicollier, the first Swiss austronaut / ESA
    General
    First Swiss austronaut Claudie Nicollier gives a talk on his experience at the IAC
    The headquarters of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) will host a talk by the first Swiss astronaut, Claude Nicollier, who wants to share his experience in space with the IAC staff on Wednesday 30 October at 14:30. Claude Nicollier is the first Swiss astronaut to have flown into space. After his studies at the Universities of Geneva and Lausanne, Claude joined ESA as a member of their first group of astronauts. Since 2007 Claude has been a Professor at the F ederal Polytechnical School at Lausanne. He has spent more than 1000 hours in space (more than 42 days) including a space
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  • The IAC hosts a global meeting of the European project The Whole Sun / Inés Bonet (IAC)
    Press release
    The IAC hosts a global meeting of the European project The Whole Sun, that aims to unravel the mysteries of the Sun
    The Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias hosted this week the global meeting of the members of the European project The Whole Sun , a project approved and funded by the European Research Council (ERC) as part of its Synergy Grant calls. The duration of the project is seven years (from 2019 to 2026) and its full title is: “The whole Sun: untangling the complex physical mechanisms behind our eruptive star and its twins”. The main objective of the ERC’s Synergy Grant calls is to promote the joint work of groups of researchers in different European institutions so that all the necessary tools
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  • Hertzsprung–Russel diagram blue supergiants
    Research news
    Challenging the theoretically predicted mass-loss rate increase of blue supergiants in the bi-stability region of the stellar winds
    The properties of blue supergiants are key for constraining the end of the main sequence phase, a phase during which massive stars spend most of their lifetimes. The lack of fast-rotating stars below 21.000K, a temperature around which stellar winds change in behaviour, has been proposed to be caused by enhanced mass-loss rates, which would spin down the star. Alternatively, the lack of fast-rotating stars may be the result of stars reaching the end of the main sequence. Here, we combine newly derived estimates of photospheric and wind parameters, wind terminal velocities from the literature
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  • La consejera insular de Turismo Raquel Rebollo Morera; el director del IAC, Valentín Martínez Pillet y la consejera insular de Desarrollo Económico, Miriam Perestelo Rodríguez. /Inés Bonet (IAC)
    El Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias agradece el compromiso de la ciudadanía palmera con la protección de sus cielos
    El Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) agradece a la ciudadanía palmera y a sus instituciones su compromiso con la protección de sus cielos en el cumplimiento de la Ley del Cielo y por la cesión de sus cumbres para el estudio científico. Así se ha puesto de manifiesto en la reunión monográfica mantenida por el IAC, el Cabildo Insular de La Palma y los ayuntamientos de la isla celebrada en el Palacio Salazar. En la reunión han participado el director del IAC, Valentín Martínez Pillet; la consejera de Turismo del Cabildo de La Palma, Raquel Rebollo Morera; y la consejera de Promoción
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  • MaNGA galaxies
    Research news
    Constraints on the in situ and ex situ stellar masses in nearby galaxies obtained with artificial intelligence
    The hierarchical model of galaxy evolution suggests that mergers have a substantial impact on the intricate processes that drive stellar assembly within a galaxy. However, accurately measuring the contribution of accretion to a galaxy's total stellar mass and its balance with in situ star formation poses a persistent challenge, as it is neither directly observable nor easily inferred from observational properties. Using data from MaNGA, we present theory-motivated predictions for the fraction of stellar mass originating from mergers in a statistically significant sample of nearby galaxies
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