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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  • Comparison between galaxies with and without dark matter
    Press release
    The puzzle of the galaxy with no dark matter

    International research led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the University of La Laguna (ULL) has found the first evidence of a massive galaxy with no dark matter. The result is a challenge to the current standard model of cosmology. The study is published in the specialized journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. A team of scientists, led by the researcher at the IAC and the University of La Laguna (ULL) Sebastién Comerón, has found that the galaxy NGC 1277 does not contain dark matter.This is the first time that a massive galaxy (it has a mass several times that of the

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  • Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), also known as GRANTECAN.
    Photomontage
    Sky protection is one of the central issues on the agenda of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union

    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias is taking part in the workshop "Dark and Calm Skies for the present and future of Astronomy", which will be held in Brussels on Monday 10 July. The aim of the workshop is to present the current situation, needs and challenges of this area of science; to show the work carried out by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), part of the United Nations General Assembly; and to analyse the perspective of the EU's space policy. The increase in light pollution and satellite constellations is one of the first issues to be discussed by Spain

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  • Euclid space mission
    Press release
    The Euclid telescope takes off to explore the dark universe

    The Euclid mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) will be launched into space tomorrow, 1st July to make the largest and most precise 3D map of the Universe. Spain has an important role in this project, where it is part of the the Consortium which has driven the mission since its origin. Spain has also participated significantly in the instrument design of the project, and will contribute to its scientific use. The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has collaborated in the design, construction and testing of the control electronics for one of the on-board instruments. It also

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  • The group of presidents of the TSJs visit the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory

    The presidents of the High Courts of Justice (TSJ) of Spain have met in La Palma for their 18th annual meeting. On 27 June 2023, the presiding judges of the Spanish High Courts of Justice (TSJ) visited the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory to see its facilities and telescopes. The Director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Rafael Rebolo, received the group of judges accompanied by the Observatory administrator, Juan Carlos Pérez Arencibia, and the Mayor of Garafía, José Angel Sánchez, who was also joined by three councillors from his Corporation. The tour began at the Roque de

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  • Image of the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888), a ring nebula associated with a galactic Wolf-Rayet star, in which significant temperature variations have been observed in the gas it contains. Credit: Daniel López / IAC
    Research news
    Temperature inhomogeneities cause the abundance discrepancy in H II regions

    H II regions are ionized nebulae associated with the formation of massive stars. They exhibit a wealth of emission lines in their spectra that form the basis for estimation of chemical composition. The amount of heavy chemical elements is essential to the understanding of important phenomena such as nucleosynthesis, star formation and chemical evolution of galaxies. For over 80 years, however, a discrepancy exists of a factor of around two between heavy-element abundances (the so-called metallicity) derived from the two main kinds of emission lines that can be measured in nebular spectra

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  • Estrellas supergigantes azules en h y X Persei
    Press release
    Blue Supergiants observed in detail

    Researchers at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the University of La Laguna (ULL), publish today in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics the first results of a detailed study of nearly a thousand blue supergiants in the Milky Way. This is the biggest sample of stars of this type which has been studied until now. The study has used over 15 years of high quality observations taken mainly with the NOT and Mercator telescopes at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma. The analysis of these data will allow researchers to improve their knowledge of the evolution of

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