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
  • Toi-1853 b
    Press release
    The densest “Neptune” ever observed
    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
    Advertised on
  • Research news
    Confronting fuzzy dark matter with the rotation curves of nearby dwarf irregular galaxies
    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
    Advertised on
  • Research news
    The relic galaxy NGC 1277 lacks dark matter
    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
    Advertised on
  • Sahrawi children from the "Vacaciones en Paz" 2023 edition and their host families in Tenerife at IAC headquarters
    Photomontage
    Astronomy day with Saharawi children and their host families on Tenerife
    This Tuesday, 22 August, the Science Communication and Outreach Unit (UC3) of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Asociación Canaria de Amistad con el Pueblo Saharaui (ACAPS), in collaboration with the Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos (MCC, Museos de Tenerife), organised a day of outreach activities as part of the " Vacaciones en Paz" (Holidays in Peace) programme and the Amanar project. Saharawi children and their host families in Tenerife, a total of 28 participants, enjoyed talks and workshops on astronomy, solar observations and guided tours at the MCC, as well as
    Advertised on
  • Sergio Rodríguez at ORM
    Photomontage
    The president of the Cabildo de La Palma visits the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory
    The president of the La Palma Island Council, Sergio Rodríguez Fernández, visited the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Garafía, La Palma), accompanied by the third vice-president and councillor for Tourism, Raquel Rebollo Morera, and the councillor for Culture, Heritage and Crafts, Pablo Díaz Cobiella. The visit was attended by the Director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Rafael Rebolo, the Director of the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC or Grantecan), Romano Corradi, and the Observatory Manager (ORM), Emilio García. During this meeting, they visited the GTC, the
    Advertised on
  • Teresa Ribera at the Teide Observatory
    Photomontage
    Teresa Ribera visits the Teide Observatory to assess the effects of the fire
    The third vice-president and acting minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, the government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, and the president of the Tenerife Island Council, Rosa Dávila, visited the Teide Observatory (OT) to receive information on the state of the facilities after the fire suffered last Sunday. The visit was attended by the director of the IAC, Rafael Rebolo, the head of telescopic operations, Álex Oscoz, and the head of instrumentation maintenance, Héctor Quintero. During the visit they checked that the fire did not cause any damage to the
    Advertised on