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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  • News report
    The OTPC: thirty years working to protect the sky
    The Technical Office for the Protection of Sky Quality (OTPC, its Spanish initials) has become a model copied by other Spanish autonomous regional communities such as Catalonia, the Balearics, Analusía, Navarre, Cantabria, Castille & Leon, and Extremadura. It has also been a reference for other places in the world, such as Chile, Hawaii, and Italy. When night falls, we often think, mistakenly, that the more artificial lighting we have the better. There is more security, a greater sense of tranquility for people in general, and the important buildings are best presented. But this insistence
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  • DRAGO Proyecto Educativo
    Photomontage
    The first edition of the DRAGO educational project has been concluded
    The project "DRAGO: Canary Islands Educational Centres from Space" ended its 1st edition on Monday 27th June with a visit to the Teide Observatory for the winners and finalists, where they were also presented with the corresponding prizes. In this way, students and teachers from 5 schools in the Canary Islands were brought together in this first edition. DRAGO is an innovative educational project created by the space division of IACTEC, of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, together with the Regional Ministry of Education, Universities, Culture and Sports of the Canary Islands
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  • visita eurodiputados
    Photomontage
    A delegation from the Commission for Regional Development of the European Parliament visited the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory
    Yesterday May 23rd, a group of Members of the European Parliament belonging to the Regional Development Commission visited the Installations of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM). They also were given informatjon about the use of the European Funds for Regional Development which have been used to build world class sceintiric installations such as the Gran Telescopio Canarias, and the telescopes of the CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array). The visit was in the framework of the visit by the Commisson to the island of La Palma to see directly the consequences of the eruption of the volcano
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  • Diana Morant en el CALP
    Press release
    Diana Morant, Minister of Science and Innovation, visits the Centre for Astrophysics in La Palma
    Spanish Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, visited last Wednesday the Centre for Astrophysics’ facilities in La Palma (CALP) to know the impact of the volcanic eruption on the personnel and on the operation of the facilities at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Garafía, La Palma). During her visit, she held a meeting with IAC Director Rafael Rebolo, which was also attended by the Director of the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), Romano Corradi, and the ORM Site Manager, Juan Carlos Pérez Arencibia. Accompanying the Minister were the General Secretary of Research, Raquel
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  • Image of the galaxy cluster Abell 370, one of the regions of the sky observed in the SHARDS Frontier Fields project. This is the deepest image ever taken to detect galaxies with emission lines, which are actively forming stars. The centre of the cluster is in the upper right of the image. In the same area, you can see gravitationally amplified galaxies, some of them showing highly deformed and lengthened morphologies, known as arcs. Credit: GRANTECAN
    Press release
    Images from the Hubble Space Telescope and GRANTECAN help to show how the first galaxies were formed
    One of the most interesting questions for astrophysicists for the past few decades is how and when did the first galaxies form. One of the possible answers to “how” is that star formation in the first galaxies took place at a steady rate, building up a system with increasing mass. Another possibility is that the formation was more violent and discontinuous, with intense bursts of star formation, on short timescales, triggered by events such as galaxy mergers and strong concentrations of gas.
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  • Illustration of the formation of a planet round a star similar to the Sun, with rocks and iron molecules, the basic components of planets, in the foreground. Credit: Tania Cunha (Planetário do Porto - Centro Ciência Viva & Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço).
    Press release
    Rocky exoplanets and their host stars may have similar composition
    Newly formed stars have protoplanetary discs around them. A fraction of the material in the disc condenses into planet-forming chunks, and the rest finally falls into the star. Because of their common origin, researchers have assumed that the composition of these chunks and that of the rocky planets with low masses should be similar to that of their host stars. However, until now the Solar System was the only available reference for the astronomers.
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