The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is taking part in an international study, published in the journal "Science", which provides the first conclusive evidence of a planet’s influence on the behaviour of its star. The results have made it possible to detect and estimate the strength of the magnetic field of the exoplanet GJ 436 b, opening up a new avenue for studying the habitability of planets outside the Solar System. Magnetic fields play a fundamental role in the habitability of planets. On Earth, the magnetic field acts as a shield against the solar wind and contributes to the

On 10 and 11 June, the IACTEC facilities – the technology transfer and business collaboration hub of the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics (IAC) – will host the meeting of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Science Programme Committee (SPC), the body responsible for deciding how funds allocated to ESA’s science programme should be managed and for what purposes. The meeting in Tenerife brings together representatives from the 23 ESA member states and specialists involved in the planning, selection and monitoring of the scientific projects that will shape European space science in the

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the University of La Laguna are leading an international study on dark galaxies. ULL PhD student Guacimara García Bethencourt, together with her thesis supervisors Arianna Di Cintio and Sébastien Comerón, both lecturers in the Department of Astrophysics at the ULL and researchers at the IAC, presents a pioneering study in Astronomy & Astrophysics on one of the most intriguing objects in modern astrophysics: dark galaxies, systems rich in gas and dark matter but incapable of forming stars, and therefore invisible to traditional telescopes