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.

List view
  • Imagen del Cometa C/2025 A6 (Lemmon), captada el 23 de octubre desde el Observatorio del Teide / Daniel López y Alfred Rosenberg (IAC)
    Un eclipse de Sol y la llegada de un cometa marcarán la agenda astronómica 2026
    El Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), a través de su Unidad de Comunicación y Cultura Científica (UC3) y en colaboración con el Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos (MCC), de Museos de Tenerife, publica las efemérides astronómicas para el año 2026 en su tradicional calendario. Este 2026 estará marcado por el eclipse total de Sol el 12 de agosto, que no será visible desde Canarias sino con una parcialidad del 70 por ciento. Además, 2026 viene acompañado de la llegada de nuevos cometas, lluvias de estrellas y otras interesantes citas astronómicas. El Calendario 2026 del IAC está ilustrado
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  • Un momento de la grabación del programa Soñando Estrellas / IAC
    El programa Soñando Estrellas viaja a la cronología de la Vía Láctea y explora el auge del astroturismo en Canarias
    Esta semana, "Soñando Estrellas", el espacio radiofónico del Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) que se emite en La Radio Canaria invita a descifrar los secretos de nuestra propia galaxia y a descubrir cómo el cielo se ha convertido en un motor económico para las islas en el capítulo 08. El programa, conducido por la periodista científica Verónica Martín, se emite este viernes 26 de diciembre a las 22:30 horas, ofreciendo una nueva entrega que combina ciencia de vanguardia con el talento joven de la Astrofísica. En este episodio 08, el programa cuenta con la participación de Carme
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  • Comparison between an observed galaxy (right) and a simulated galaxy (left) showing similarities in mass and size.
    Press release
    IAC researchers develop accurate method to measure dark matter haloes using galaxy sizes
    A new study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics unveils a powerful way to determine the size of dark matter haloes—the massive, invisible structures that host galaxies—by simply measuring how large galaxies appear in deep astronomical images. Researchers Ignacio Trujillo and Claudio Dalla Vecchia, from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), demonstrate that galaxy size can serve as a precise proxy for halo size, offering measurements up to six times more accurate than previous methods. Using the cutting-edge EAGLE cosmological simulations
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  • Giant galaxy M87 combining observations in visible light
    Press release
    Grantecan helps reveal how the black hole in the supergiant galaxy M87 shapes its mysterious filaments
    An international team of astronomers has captured the most detailed and completed view yet of the mysterious filaments surrounding the giant galaxy M87. Using new observations from the Gran Telescopio Canarias and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, the study reveals how these long, thread-like structures move, evolve, and interact with their galactic environment and the activity of the central supermassive black hole. These findings have just been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. M87: a giant galaxy and its mysterious threads M87, located about 55 million
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  • dm_fig1
    Research news
    The slow expansion of dark matter halos from cusp to core naturally produces extended stellar core-like distributions
    Only a handful of observations truly constrain the nature of dark matter, which is why dozens of different physical models are still viable. Several of the most popular alternatives predict that dark matter halos slowly “thermalize” over time, gradually changing shape and expanding until they form a central region of nearly constant density -- a core. This transformation would not occur if the dark matter particles were completely collision-less, as assumed in the standard model. Therefore, the presence or absence of such a core provides a powerful way to distinguish between the standard
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  • Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS
    Press release
    The TTT telescope at the Teide Observatory detects the first periodic and wobbling jet in an interstellar comet
    The discovery, made in collaboration between the IAC Solar System Group and Light Bridges, reveals the rotation period of comet 3I/ATLAS The Two-metre Twin Telescope (TTT) has made a pioneering discovery in astronomy: the first detection of a jet of gas and dust and its periodic modulation in an interstellar comet, 3I/ATLAS. The study, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, provides the first evidence of localised activity from an interstellar nucleus, offering unique insight into the nature of a celestial body that formed outside our Solar System. An extraordinarily normal
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