Severo Ochoa Programme

Research News

  • Planetary nebula M57

    A pioneering study from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) which combines laboratory chemistry with astrophysics, has shown for the first time that grains of dust formed by carbon and hydrogen in a highly disordered state, known as HAC, can take part in the formation of fullerenes, carbon molecules which are of key importance for the development of life in the universe, and with potential applications in nanotechnology. The results are published as a Letter to the Editor in the prestigious journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Fullerenes are carbon molecules which are very big

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  •  Merging binary

    An international piece of research, led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has found clues to the nature of some of the brightest and hottest stars in our Universe, called blue supergiants. Although these stars are commonly observed, their origin has been an old puzzle that has been debated for several decades. By simulating novel stellar models and analysing a large data sample in the Large Magellanic Cloud, IAC researchers have found strong evidence that most blue supergiants may have formed from the merger of two stars bound in a binary system. The study is published in the

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  • Cadena de resonancias del sistema HD110067

    An international collaboration, with participation by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has found a system of six exoplanets orbiting a central star with a precise rhythm.This phenomenon, known as orbital resonance, is common during the starting phase of planet formation, but it is exceptional to find a system with such a large set of planets which conserves this kind of gravitational synchronism. This finding shows that the system has not undergone major changes during its six billion year history, so that it gives an unusual view of the formation and evolution of planets. The

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  • Artist's impression of the evolution of the galaxy ceers-2112

    An international team of scientists, with participation by researchers at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the University of La Laguna (ULL) have found a barred spiral galaxy, similar to the Milky Way, in the early universe, when it was only 15% as old as it is now. The galaxy, ceers-2112, is the most distant barred spiral observed, and its existence poses a challege to the current model of formation and evolution of galaxies. The discovery, made with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is published in the journal Nature. In astrophysics studying the structure of galaxies

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  • La nebulosa Cabeza de Caballo

    ESA’s Euclid space mission reveals its first full-colour images of the cosmos. Never before has a telescope been able to create such razor-sharp astronomical images across such a large patch of the sky, and looking so far into the distant Universe. These images illustrate the telescope's potential to create the largest and most accurate 3D map of the Universe to date. The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has led one of the first five Euclid Early Release Objects (ERO) programmes. 95% of our cosmos appears to be made of these mysterious ‘dark’ entities But we don’t understand what

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  • Poster of the XXXIV Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics. Credit: Gabriel Pérez Díaz y Daniel López / IAC

    La XXXIV Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics, organizada por el Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) y la Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), tendrá lugar entre los días 8 y 15 de noviembre. En esta edición, cerca de 60 estudiantes de 15 países se reunirán para conocer los últimos avances en el campo de la evolución de galaxias, con el Grupo Local como punto de referencia. Durante una semana, el edificio IACTEC, en el Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Tenerife (La Laguna), acogerá a 60 estudiantes de máster, doctorado y postdoctorado para nutrirse sobre las novedades del panorama

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