An investigation carried out at the IAC has demonstrated that the apparently non-magnetic regions of the solar photosphere (the innermost region of the atmosphere of the Sun) are instead permeated by a "chaotic" magnetic field of very significant intensity, which implies the presence of a vast amount of "hidden" magnetic energy in the quiet solar photosphere. This investigation required to develop first a novel diagnostic technique of magnetic fields, which is based on three-dimensional numerical simulations of the Hanle effect in atomic and molecular lines. For more information see the

A possible explanation has been discovered for the UV peak at 2175A based on the presence of fullerenes and buckyonians in interstellar matter. This is a problem that has been known about in astrophysics for over fifty years.

The range of masses for the compact object in binary r-X 2S 0921-630 has been determined (between 2.0-4.3 solar masses), consistent with a massive neutron star or a low-mass black hole.

Windspeed readings taken by satellite at a height of 200 mbar (some 12 km), which have been proposed as an indicator of the observation quality of a site, give excellent results (speed, homogeneity) for our observatories. This confirms the quality of the ORM and OT for Adaptive Optics (OA). The figures are given beneath the photograph.

Most of the solar surface seems to be non-magnetic. However, it carries a magnetic flux and energy that easily exceed those of sunspots, plage and network all together. The solar magnetism studied so far represents only the 'tip of the iceberg'. The rest, known as 'magnetism of the quiet Sun' is been studied and characterized. The solar physicists of the IAC have played a leading role in this characterization, and the paper this highlight refers to points out a good example. Using the SST at the ORM, Sanchez Almeida et al. discovered, for the first time, magnetic bright points in the quiet

Este proyecto educativo, coordinado y gestionado desde el IAC y subvencionado por el Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología pretende ayudar al profesorado de la ESO (Enseñanza Secundaria Obligatoria) y Bachillerato en el desarrollo de contenidos curriculares que puedan tratarse desde el ámbito de la Astronomía proporcionando, a su vez, un enfoque científico-cultural-humano de los mismos.