This is the third “mini-Moon” with lunar-like material identified as part of the Arjuna asteroid belt, where objects follow similar orbits around the Sun to that of the Earth-Moon system. IAC, February 6, 2025. – Near-Earth asteroid 2024 PT5 orbits around the Sun following a trajectory very similar to that of the Earth-Moon system, and during two months of 2024, it accompained our Earth on its journey. This asteroid has material on its surface that was originated in the Moon, as it has been proved by a research led by the Insituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Universidad

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the KU Leuven , Belgium, have amplified their framework of collaboration in astrophysical research. The two institutions have signed an agreement which gives continuity to the operations of the Mercator Telescope at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM), which started in 2002, and whose work will be strengthened by the installation of a new instrument called MARVEL (Mercator Array for Radial Velocities). Mercator is a semi-robotic telescope with a 1.2 metre primary mirror. Its name comes from that of the famous Flemish cartographer

The single star nearest to the Sun is called Barnard’s star. A team of researchers led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has recently detected a ‘sub-Earth’ orbiting it. This exoplanet, called Barnard b has at least half the mass of Venus and orbits rapidly around its star, so that its year lasts only a little over three Earth days. This new exoplanet is sixteen times nearer to Barnard’d star than Mercury is to the Sun, and has a surface temperature close to 125oC, so it does not have liquid water on its surface. This discovery, led by the IAC in collaboration with a number