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
The Deputy Director of the IAC, Casiana Muñoz Tuñón praises the bravery and persistence shown by Francisco Sánchez which enabled the IAC to be recognized as one of the best centres in the world for research in astrophysics. The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) hosted this morning the ceremony to rename the Centre of Astrophysics on La Palma (CALP) as CALP Francisco Sánchez, in honour of the person who was the first Professor of astrophysics in Spain, and the founder of the IAC. Those taking part in the ceremony included the Founding Director of the IAC, Francisco Sánchez Martínez
An international scientific team, including the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has detected distortions in the brightness of a galaxy's disc that could be explained by the gravitational effect of an unknown neighbouring galaxy. Named GTC-1, the satellite galaxy was discovered using ultra-deep images obtained with the OSIRIS camera of the Gran Telescopio Canarias, located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma. The finding provides a possible explanation for a puzzle about way the light fades out at the edges of galaxy disks, a mystery that has bothered the