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.

List view
  • Artistic impression of the BL Lac nucleus. The particle jet emerging from the black-hole follows the spiral structure of the magnetic field. In the inset the brightness variations are shown as observed in red light (2020, August).
    Research news
    Rapid quasi-periodic oscillations in a relativistic jet
    Active galactic nuclei (AGN) consist of a supermassive black hole fed by the circumnuclear material close to the galaxy center. Around 10% of the AGNs develop a pair of jets that are launched to the interstellar medium at speed close to velocity of light. Blazars are observed when one of the jets points very close to our line of sight, which produce an extraordinary boosting of the emission by relativistic effects. Jets produce electromagnetic emission that varies rapidly and covers from radio waves to gamma rays. The observed light is mostly random without an apparent pattern. The source BL
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  • CLASP2.1
    Press release
    The CLASP2.1 mission team receives a NASA award
    The international team of the “Chromospheric LAyer Spectro-Polarimeter” (CLASP) space missions, which includes three scientists of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has just received the NASA Group Achievement Honor Award for the successful execution of the recent CLASP2.1 mission. The goal of this mission is to map the magnetic field of the Sun in an extended region of the chromosphere. The Chromospheric Layer Spectro-Polarimeter series of heliophysics sounding rocket missions were designed to measure the polarization of the ultraviolet light emitted by the Sun to study the
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  • Press release
    The Rector of the University of La Laguna (ULL) visits the Gran Telescopio de Canarias to give an impulse to the Sustainability Plan for the telescope
    A team form the Department of Botany, Ecology, and Vegetable Physiology of the University of La Laguna (ULL) and representatives of the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC) and of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) met yesterday, September 20th at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM) to work together to develop a “Sustainability Plan” for the GTC. The Rector of the ULL, Rosa María Aguilar Chinea joined the meeting in order to get to know the project at first hand, and to give it an impulse. This is a new step in the commitment to sustainability for the Canary Observatories
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  • Errant intermediate-mass black holes
    Press release
    The possible detection of elusive intermediate mass black holes
    A research team at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has observed an unusual type of emission in a sample of local galaxies which could indicate the presence of accretion discs around intermediate mass black holes (IMBH). The discovery would multiply by five the numer of known IMBH and opens a new way to detect and study this mysterious class of astronomica objects. Although only a few are known, via indirect evidence, the IMBH are a key to understand the formation of supermassive black holes and the galaxies which harbour them. The IMBH is a type of black hole whose mass is
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  • Visit of Minister of Science and Innovation Diana Morant
    Press release
    The Minister of Science, Diana Morant, visits the scientific installations at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory
    After presiding over the ceremony of recognition for the scientific community involved in the management of the crisis caused by the volcanic eruption on La Palma, the minister wanted to demonstrate her backing of science and research by visiting the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) and the Cherenkov telescopes, MAGIC and the LST. Last Sunday December 18th, after the ceremony in Santa Cruz de La Palma in which the Ministry of Science and Innovation paid tribute to the scientific community on the anniversary of the eruption of the volcaon on La Palma, the Minister, Diana Morant, went up to the
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  • The tholos of Cerro de la Barca. Credit: Daniel Padrón (sky-live.tv)
    Press release
    The autumnal equinox from the Dolmen of Magacela
    Next Friday, September 23nd, at 01:04 UT the Earth will be at a specific point in its orbit round the Sun: the September equinox. The September and March equinoxes are the only days in the year when the Sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west, across the whole planet. In practical terms the days at both the vernal and the autumnal equinoxes are divided equally into daytime and night-time, with each lasting approximately 12 hours. In fact the literal meaning of the word equinox, is “equal night” and comes from the latin word aequinoctium. Live from the Dolmen of Magacela
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