A pioneering study from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) which combines laboratory chemistry with astrophysics, has shown for the first time that grains of dust formed by carbon and hydrogen in a highly disordered state, known as HAC, can take part in the formation of fullerenes, carbon molecules which are of key importance for the development of life in the universe, and with potential applications in nanotechnology. The results are published as a Letter to the Editor in the prestigious journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Fullerenes are carbon molecules which are very big
The first test images from its two instruments show its potential for achieving its scientific goals. These images will be used to check the instruments and to see how Euclid can be adjusted and fine tuned for best performance. The European Space Agency (ESA)’s Euclid mission, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is participating, will produce the biggest and most accurate 3D map of the universe. Euclid’s two instruments VIS (VISible instrument) and NISP (Near Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer) have taken their first test images. The results indicated that this space
An international team of researchers, with participation from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, has discovered an extremely dense Neptune-sized planet, which challenges the conventional theories about the formation and evolution of planets. It was first identified with NASA’s TESS satellite, and the present studies were made with the HARPS-N spectrograph on the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Garafía, La Palma, Canary Islands). The results of the study have been published in the journal Nature. It is called TOI-1853b and is really