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.

  • Comparison between GJ 1002 and Sistema Solar

    Red dwarfs are the most common stars in the galaxy. In recent years they have become key targets in the search for exoplanets. These stars are usually accompanied by rocky planets and due to their low brightness, their habitable zone is close to the star, making it easier to find planets that are within it. GJ 1002 is a red dwarf just one-eighth the mass of the Sun, located only 15.8 light-years away. Using radial velocity measurements from the ESPRESSO and CARMENES spectrographs, we have discovered the presence of two Earth-like and potentially habitable planets. The planets, GJ 1002 b and

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  • Toi-1853 b

    An international team of researchers, with participation from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, has discovered an extremely dense Neptune-sized planet, which challenges the conventional theories about the formation and evolution of planets. It was first identified with NASA’s TESS satellite, and the present studies were made with the HARPS-N spectrograph on the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Garafía, La Palma, Canary Islands). The results of the study have been published in the journal Nature. It is called TOI-1853b and is really

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  • Dark matter is an invisible substance that makes up more than eighty percent of the matter content of the universe. We know of its existence due to its gravitational influence, being a key ingredient to understand everything from the large-scale evolution of the universe to the formation of galaxies like the Milky Way, of which we are part of. However, very little is known about its nature, which constitutes one of the greatest unsolved problems in contemporary physics. The fuzzy dark matter model has recently been studied as a promising candidate. In this model, it is postulated that dark

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  • The standard cosmological model states that massive galaxies contain a large fraction of dark matter. Dark matter is a transparent substance that does not interact through regular baryonic matter and is only detected through its gravitational pull over the stars and the gas. NGC 1277 is known as the prototype of a relic galaxy, that is, a galaxy that has not accreted other galaxies since it formed. Relic galaxies are extremely rare and are the untouched remains of the giant galaxies that populated the early Universe. Since relic galaxies are very important to understand the conditions in the

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  • Euclid first images

    The first test images from its two instruments show its potential for achieving its scientific goals. These images will be used to check the instruments and to see how Euclid can be adjusted and fine tuned for best performance. The European Space Agency (ESA)’s Euclid mission, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is participating, will produce the biggest and most accurate 3D map of the universe. Euclid’s two instruments VIS (VISible instrument) and NISP (Near Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer) have taken their first test images. The results indicated that this space

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  • Artist’s image of the European solar Telescope (IDOM)

    9 institutions from 7 European countries today signed the documents for this organization, which will prepare the way towards the future construction of the European Solar Telescope (EST) One of the main aims of the EST is to improve our understanding of the Sun by observing its magnetic fields in unprecedented detail Representatives from 8 institutions in 7 European countries, among which are the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) this morning in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, signed the founding documents of the Canary

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