The distribution of planets in the over five thousand distant solar systems discovered to date forms a complex puzzle. There is a region in the planetary orbit graph, known as the " Neptunian desert", where very few Neptune-like planets with orbits of between two and four days period around their star have been recorded to date. Now, a scientific team led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IAA-CSIC) , using a novel technique, new planets around red dwarf stars located precisely in

ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defense performed a flyby of Mars, as part of its gravitational assistance manoeuvre to shorten its journey to the binary asteroid system Didymos. During the flyby, the spacecraft came around 5000 km from the surface of Mars, having also the opportunity to obtain images of its two moons, Deimos (during the approach) and Phobos (when departing Mars). Julia de León, Javier Licandro, and George Prodan, researchers at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, participate in this mission, successfully launched from Cape Cañaveral, Florida (USA) on October 7, 2024

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the University of La Laguna (ULL) are organizing the XXXV edition of the Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysic s which will take place between the 8 th and the 17 th of October in La Laguna,Tenerife. For this edition there will be 60 participants, including master’s and doctor’s degree students and postdocs, from thirteen different countries who will come to Tenerife to receive a complete and exhaustive view of the evolution of the galaxies. The Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysic s is a key event in the calendar of the