An international piece of research, led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has found clues to the nature of some of the brightest and hottest stars in our Universe, called blue supergiants. Although these stars are commonly observed, their origin has been an old puzzle that has been debated for several decades. By simulating novel stellar models and analysing a large data sample in the Large Magellanic Cloud, IAC researchers have found strong evidence that most blue supergiants may have formed from the merger of two stars bound in a binary system. The study is published in the

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is strengthening its commitment to Equality and, to coincide with the commemoration of March 8th, International Women’s Day, is presenting its IV Plan for Equality. This document covers the active work within the IAC to support Equality and Fairness in the working and institutional environment, and proposes specific measures to ensure that both of these aims are achieved. The IAC has pioneered the introduction of policies of Equality in the field of science in Spain. Even before the approval of the Organic Law 3/2007 for the effective equality

At the present time ground-based observatories have a wide range of instruments which can study the solar surface in the visible and infrared ranges. But it is not possible to combine these observations with those in the near ultraviolet, which cover the wavelength range from 200 to 400 nanometres, nor to maintain them for long periods due to the turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere. In this context, the Sunrise III mission, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is collaborating, “ has become the first observatory to obtain spectropolarimetric data simultaneously in the