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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  • WASP-18b
    Press release
    Evidence of water found in the atmosphere of an ultra-hot gas giant
    Using observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international scientific team, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participates, has identified water vapour in the atmosphere of WASP-18 b, a massive extrasolar planet, a so-called hot Jupiter, with a temperature of around 2.700 °C. The result is published in the journal Nature. Exoplanet WASP-18 b is about 400 light-years from Earth, is 10 times more massive than Jupiter and has an orbital period of less than a day. Its extreme proximity to its star, its relative closeness to Earth, and its large mass
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  • Photomontage
    The IAC and the Canary company Light Bridges will collaborate to install a robotic telescope in the Teide Observatory
    The Transient Survey Telescope (TNT) project will install a 1 metre telescope which, in a novel way, will have a wide field of view and will need high capacities of storage and digital processing. The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Canary Company Light Bridges , with headquarters in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria have recently signe dan agreement which establishes the terms of the cooperation between the two for the installation, setting up, and exploitation of a special telescopic installation called the Transient Survey Telescope (TST) The new telescope will be installed in
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  • Magnetic waves in sunspot
    Press release
    A new explanation for the high temperatures of the solar corona
    An international scientific team, including researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the University of La Laguna (ULL), have discovered magnetic waves in sunspots with such a high energy flux that they could keep the Sun's atmosphere at millions of degrees. The finding adds a new missing piece to the puzzle of why the Sun's outer layers are hotter than its surface despite being further away from the source of heat. The results are published in the journal Nature Astronomy. The Sun is powered by nuclear fusion of hydrogen at the core, where the temperature reaches
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  • Artist's impression of LP 791-18 d
    Press release
    Astronomers find Earth-sized world potentially covered in volcanoes
    An international research, with the participation of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has discovered an Earth-size exoplanet that may be carpeted with volcanoes. Called LP 791-18 d, the planet could undergo volcanic outbursts as often as Jupiter’s moon Io, the most volcanically active body in our solar system. The study is published in the scientific journal Nature. LP 791-18 d orbits a small red dwarf star about 90 light-years away in the southern constellation Crater. The team estimates it’s only slightly larger and more massive than Earth. Astronomers already knew about two
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  • Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888)
    Press release
    An old problem about the measurement of the chemical composition of the universe has been resolved
    Research carried out by a scientific team from the University of Heidelberg (UH), the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) has allowed them to solve the abundance discrepancy, a puzzle over 80 years old, about the chemical composition of the Universe. They find that the effect of the variations in temperatura in the large gas clouds where stars are born has led to the underestimation of the quantity of heavy elements in the Universe. The results have been published in the prestigious journal Nature . All the stars are born, live
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  • Programa INVESTIGO
    Photomontage
    New contracts for young people through the INVESTIGO Programme
    On 28th April last, 11 people joined the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias through the "INVESTIGO Programme" for hiring young job seekers to carry out research and innovation initiatives, financed by the Canary Islands Employment Service through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan-Next Generation EU Funds. A welcoming ceremony was held in the classroom at the IAC Headquarters where the new staff was received by Alfonso López, coordinator of Instrumentation at the IAC, and Anselmo Sosa, manager of the Office of Transfer and Institutional Actions (OTAI). The different heads of
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