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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  • Artist’s impression of the accoustic oscillations of normal (“baryonic”) matter, taken from one of thousands of simulations used in the study/ Francisco-Shu Kitaura & Francesco Sinigaglia
    Press release
    The light from quasars, a key to the measurement of the expansion of the distant universe
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) in collaboration with the University of Geneva (Switzerland), the University of Osaka (Japan), and the University of Zhejiang (China) has made a key contribution to a more precise measurement of the expansion of the Universe. This is because they have made an improvement in the precision of the calculation of the scale of the universe in its early stages using the analisis of the distribution of gas in intergalactic space, measurements which reach back to epochs between 10,000 and 12,000 million years ago. This result comes from the análisis of
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  • El director del IAC, Valentín Martínez Pillet, en la inauguración de la XXV Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics.
    Valentín Martínez Pillet y Antonia Varela inauguran la XXV edición de la Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics
    El director del Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Valentín Martínez Pillet; y la directora del Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos, Antonia Varela, inauguraron esta mañana la XXV Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics. Esta tradicional escuela organizada por el IAC tiene lugar hasta el próximo 17 de octubre y acoge a 60 estudiantes de máster, doctorado y postdoctorado de trece países distintos que se encontrarán en Tenerife para recibir una visión completa y exhaustiva sobre la evolución de las galaxias. Valentín Martínez Pillet dio la bienvenida al estudiantado y expuso que esta
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  • Action space (normalized to the sum of the three actions of motion, Jtot) of Gaia RVS stars
    Research news
    The Metal-Poor Edge of the Milky Way’s Thin Disk
    The formation and evolution of the disk of our Galaxy, the Milky Way, remains an enigma in astronomy. In particular, the relationship between the thick disk and the thin disk —two key components of the Milky Way— is still unclear. Understanding the chemical and dynamical properties of the stars within these disks is crucial, especially in the parameter spaces where their characteristics overlap, such the metallicity regime around [Fe/H] ~ -0.7, which marks the metal-poor end of the thin disk, higher than that of the thick disk. This is often interpreted as an indication that the thin disk
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  • The Mercator telescope and the new domes of the Marvel instrument / IAC
    Press release
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and the KU Leuven reneu their framework of cooperation
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the KU Leuven , Belgium, have amplified their framework of collaboration in astrophysical research. The two institutions have signed an agreement which gives continuity to the operations of the Mercator Telescope at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM), which started in 2002, and whose work will be strengthened by the installation of a new instrument called MARVEL (Mercator Array for Radial Velocities). Mercator is a semi-robotic telescope with a 1.2 metre primary mirror. Its name comes from that of the famous Flemish cartographer
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  • The representing of EST-FC, Manuel Collados and the director of the IAC, Valentín Martínez Pillet / Inés Bonet (IAC)
    Press release
    The IAC and the European Solar Telescope Fundación Canaria sign the framework agreement to promote the construction of the European Solar Telescope
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the European Solar Telescope Fundación Canaria (EST-FC) have signed thos Friday October 4th the agreement to promote the construction of the European Solar Telescope (EST). This ambitious project aims to consolidate and expand the Canary Islands' position as a world leader in solar physics research. The agreement was ratified by the director of the IAC, Valentín Martínez Pillet, and the representive of EST-FC, Manuel Collados. The signing act was attended by other members involved in the project: Héctor Socas-Navarro, Alejandra Martín; and
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  • Poster of the ‘XXXV Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics’ / Gabriel Pérez (IAC)
    Press release
    The IAC is organizing the ‘XXXV Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics’
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the University of La Laguna (ULL) are organizing the XXXV edition of the Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysic s which will take place between the 8 th and the 17 th of October in La Laguna,Tenerife. For this edition there will be 60 participants, including master’s and doctor’s degree students and postdocs, from thirteen different countries who will come to Tenerife to receive a complete and exhaustive view of the evolution of the galaxies. The Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysic s is a key event in the calendar of the
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