NASA's space telescope has produced a molecular and chemical portrait of the atmospheric constituents of exoplanet WASP-39 b, a Saturn-sized behemoth that orbit a star some 700 light-years away. The observations provide a full menu of atoms and molecules, and even signs of active chemistry and clouds. The suit of discoveries is detailed in a set of five scientific papers produced by an international collaboration involving research staff from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). WASP-39 b is a planet unlike any in our solar system. It is a so-called "hot Saturn" –a planet about as

Almost a decade after starting observations of the sky in the northern hemisphere, the QUIJOTE Collaboration has presented an initial series of 6 scientific articles, giving the most accurate description we have of the polarization of the emission of the Milky Way in the microwave range. This is a window of observation not previously explored, which provides complementary information to that obtained previously by space missions (Planck and WMAP) dedicated to the study of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), the fossil radiation left behind by the Big Bang. The new results allow

Scientists have discovered a new ring system around a dwarf planet on the edge of the Solar System. The ring system orbits much further out than is typical for other ring systems, calling into question current theories of how ring systems are formed. The discovery, published in Nature, was made possible thanks to the HiPERCAM instrument on the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma. A system of rings has been discovered around the dwarf planet Quaoar which is approximately half the size of Pluto and orbits the Sun beyond Neptune. The discovery