The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Universidad de La Laguna (ULL) has confirmed the discovery of a super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone of HD 20794, a nearby Sun-like star. This discovery, the result of over two decades of observations, opens a window to future studies of Earth-like planetary atmospheres. The search for planets in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars is crucial for understanding the possibility of life beyond Earth and for studying conditions similar to those that enabled the development of life on our own planet. In this context, HD 20794, a star

This is the third “mini-Moon” with lunar-like material identified as part of the Arjuna asteroid belt, where objects follow similar orbits around the Sun to that of the Earth-Moon system. IAC, February 6, 2025. – Near-Earth asteroid 2024 PT5 orbits around the Sun following a trajectory very similar to that of the Earth-Moon system, and during two months of 2024, it accompained our Earth on its journey. This asteroid has material on its surface that was originated in the Moon, as it has been proved by a research led by the Insituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Universidad

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