The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located in Chile, today released its first images of the universe, known in astronomy as an instrument's “first light”. This event marks the beginning of a project that will revolutionise our understanding of the universe over the next decade. Jointly funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is participating, as part of a consortium of Spanish institutions, in its scientific exploitation and contributing observation time from the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC or

An international team of researchers, including researchers from the IAC, have studied in detail a remarkable couple of dwarf galaxies “dancing with each other” inside an unpopulated area of the Universe. This uncommon pair of low-mass galaxies merging “in the middle of nowhere”, near the center of a cosmic void, offers a unique view of one-on-one interactions and of the evolution of galaxies located in very low density environments. Researchers from the Calar Alto Void Integral-field Treasury surveY (CAVITY) project, led by the University of Granada, have discovered a rare and ongoing

As part of Open Government Week, which is being held from 19 to 25 May, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has organised open days at its facilities in La Laguna (Tenerife) to bring its research and technological activity closer to the public. This international initiative aims to promote the values of transparency, citizen participation and accountability in public administrations. The visits, in which dozens of people took part in different shifts, were held on Monday 19 May at the IAC headquarters and on Tuesday 20 May at the IACTEC building, the Institute's technological and