News

This section includes scientific and technological news from the IAC and its Observatories, as well as press releases on scientific and technological results, astronomical events, educational projects, outreach activities and institutional events.

  • Dust continuum emission at 694 GHz (432 μm) mapped by ALMA in the CND of NGC 1068. The right panel shows a close-up of the dust continuum emission shown in left panel.
    NGC 1068 is the prototypical Seyfert 2 galaxy and a prime example for active galactic nuclei (AGN) unifying schemes. Its central engine is thought to be hidden behind a screen of obscuring material located in a dusty molecular torus of a few parsecs size. Given the distance to the galaxy (D ∼ 14 Mpc), it has been the subject of tens of studies aiming to disentangle what is happening in its central parsecs. We used the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) to map the emission of the CO(6–5) molecular line and the 432 μm continuum emission from the 300 pc sized circumnuclear disk (CND) of the
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  •  Left panel: SINFONI data cube collapsed in the spectra dimension, where bot the interloper and Aql X-1 are clearly resolved. Right panel: averaged, normalized spectra obtained for each object.
    Low mass X-ray binaries consist of two components: a compact object (either a neutron star or a stellar-mass black hole) and a star with a mass similar or lower to that of the Sun. Both objects are close enough for the gravity to strip material from the companion star, which fall onto the compact object forming an accretion disc. Indeed, both objects are so close (typically less than three times the orbit of Mercury) that not even the most powerful telescope can spatially resolve them. Aquila X-1 (Aql X-1) is a canonical X-ray binary harbouring a neutron star. Since its discovery 40 years
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  • Strength of the large-scale magnetic field in nearby galaxies vs. their rotation speed.
    Magnetic fields are present on all scales in the Universe from planets and stars to galaxies and galaxy clusters, and even at high redshifts. They are important for the continuation of life on the Earth, the onset of star formation, the order of the interstellar medium, and the evolution of galaxies. Hence, understanding the Universe without understanding magnetic fields is impossible. The origin and evolution of cosmic magnetic fields is among the most pressing questions in modern astronomy. The most widely accepted theory to explain the magnetic fields on stars and planets is the α-Ω
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  • Oxygen and chlorine abundances in low-mass planetary nebulae (PNe) (black dots, from Delgado-Inglada et al. 2015) versus the new AGB model predictions for different masses (a few relevant masses are marked) and metallicities. The new models predict that O
    Recently, Delgado-Inglada and collaborators have shown that low-mass (between one and three times the mass of the Sun) planetary nebulae are rich in oxygen, but the standard theoretical models do not predict this. In this work we explain this phenomenon for the first time using theoretical models of nucleosynthesis (production of chemical elements in the interiors of stars) in their precursor AGB stars, which include convective processes, (which transport chemical elements created in the interior to the surface of the star) more efficient than in the standard models. This discovery calls
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  • Edge-on I-band images for the flared and non-flared models. Intermediate panels: The same for the face-on discs. Bottom panels: Surface brightness profiles in the major axis of the galaxy for edge-on (left) and the face-on (right) views of the two models
    Previous numerical studies had apparently ruled out the possibility that flares in galaxy discs could give rise to the apparent breaks in their luminosity profiles when observed edge-on. However the studies have not, until now, analysed this hypothesis systematically using realistic models for the disc, the flare, and the bulge. We revisit this theme by analysing a series of models which sample a wide range of observationally based structural parameters for these three components. Using observational data, we have considered realistic distributions of bulge-to-disc ratios, morphological
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  • Wide angle view from the Teide Observatory towards the east. Above the horizon you can see the planet Venus, an a little higher up and to the left of Venus is comet Catalina (C/2013 US10). The lights and villages are on Grand Canary. J.C. Casado-staryeart
    Several telescopes at the Teide Observatory (IAC) followed comet Catalina with the aim of characterizing its orbit dynamically. It should be possible to see the central zone of the comet with the naked eye, but to see details you would need binoculars.
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