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.
The astronomical event of the year took place on December 21st, a very close conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn which was broadcast on Internet in the channel of astronomical events Sky Live TV and the Cultural Section of Astronomy Cassiopeia of the University of La Laguno on the 20th and 21st from the Teide Observatory. Images and videos of the conjunction were taken, and they are detailed in this press release.
The programme of IACTEC-Medical Technology of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias has developed a multifrequency microwave system called PROMISSE (PROtotype MIcrowave System for Subcutaneous anomalieEs) to characterize biological tissues at different depths. This project, whose origin is the aim of transferring astrophysical technology to the biomedical field, is part of the programme of Medical Technology within IACTEC, the area of technological and business collaboration of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), with the economic (Training Programme) and infrastructure
During the nights of 12th and 13th of December we will enjoy the peak of the Geminid meteor shower. This will be broadcast live from the Teide Observatory (Tenerife) and from the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory ( La Palma) via the sky-live.tv channel, with the collaboration with the Energy Efficiency Labs (EELabs project of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Programme of Astronomical Outreach of SODEPAL and the Innovation Service of the Cabildo Insular of La Palma. During the past decade the Geminids have always bid farewell to the year by producing over 100 meteors
On Saturday, the Cabildo of La Palma, the City Council of Santa Cruz de la Palma, and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) inaugurated the Walk of the Stars of Science of La Palma, situated in the Avenida Marítima of the capital, and unique in the world, in which persons and the work of famous scientists is recognized.
The IACTEC-Space programme of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has signed an agreement with the Italian space tranporting company D-Orbit to integrate the payload of the DRAGO instrument into the ION Satellite Carrier. The aim of this project is to carry out in-orbit demonstration (IOD) operations during the next PULSE misión, which will take place in January 2021. The programme is carried out within IACTEC, the zone of technical and business collaboration of the IAC which is funded (Programme of Training) and infrastructure (IACTEC building) by the Cabildo Insular of Tenerife.
The small fraction of dark matter in the galaxy NGC1052-DF4 has worried the astronomical community for several years. Now a team of researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAAC) the University of La Laguna (ULL) the University of New South Wales, the Insituto de Astrofísica de Andalucia, and NASA’S Ames Research Center have found a mechnism which can esplain it. This finding, which is to be published in the scientific journal The Astrophysical Journal, manages to make this phenomenon fit with accepted models of formation and evolution of galaxies.
