An international team, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias participates, has succeeded in mapping for the first time the three-dimensional structure of the atmosphere of an exoplanet, that is a planet beyond the Solar System. This research, published today in Nature , has been able to discover very strong winds that carry chemical elements such as iron and titanium, which create certain weather patterns through the planet's atmosphere. This mapping opens the door to more comprehensive and detailed studies of the chemical composition and climate of other planets. Enric Pallé
Researchers Julia de León and Javier Licandro of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) are participating in the Hera mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) , successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA) on 7th October at 14:52 UTC. This is the first European mission for planetary defence which together with NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid redirection Test) will study the effects of a technique for diverting asteroids called “ kinetic impactor”. The DART probe crashed into the smaller ( Dimorphos) of the two asteroids which form the binary system Didymos, on September
This Saturday, 29 March 2025, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) was able to follow the partial solar eclipse from the Teide Observatory in Tenerife. Although subtle to the naked eye, this eclipse was used by the IAC's outreach team to raise awareness of the phenomenon among a group of people from the ‘Friends of the IAC’ programme and IAC staff. At the same time, an observation was also made from the IAC Headquarters in La Laguna, which could be seen live on the centre's YouTube channel. The eclipse began at 09:14 UT and ended at 10:56 UT, with its maximum at 10:03 UT. For just