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
  • Image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of the Einstein ring GAL-CLUS-022058s, located in the constellation of Fornax. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. Jha; Acknowledgment: L. Shatz
    Press release
    New data obtained about the biggest and one of the most complete Einstein rings
    In December 2020 a team from the European Space Agency (ESA) published an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) of GAL-CLUS-022058s, the biggest and one of the most complete Einstein rings discovered, situated towards the southern hemisphere constellation of Fornax. Since then, those observations have been used to develop a model of gravitational lenses which has enabled the study of the physical properties of the amplified galaxies.
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  • Visigoth Basilica of Santa Lucía del Trampal
    Press release
    The Equinox from the Basilica of Santa Lucía del Trampal
    Known as the only building from the Visigoth era in the southern half of the Spanish península which is still conserved, this church, from the Municipality of Alcuéscar in the province of Cáceres, is the scene which has been chosen to welcome Autumn by the sky-live.tv channel.
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  • Erupción volcánica en Cumbre Vieja (La Palma)
    IAC Statement: Volcanic eruption in La Palma
    The IAC expresses the solidarity of all its staff with La Palma in the face of the eruptive phenomenon that is affecting several municipalities on the island. We thank the authorities and all those involved in the security arrangements for the great work they are doing, which has prevented personal injury and has been of great help to the population. We deeply regret the material losses that many of the people living on the island are suffering. The eruption occurred about 20 km in a straight line from the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory and at an altitude of 600 m above sea level, so
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  • Photometer SG-WAS. Credit: Miguel Rodríguez Alarcón (IAC).
    Press release
    Measuring darkness in remote places
    Completely autonomous, not invasive, and low cost. This is the new SG-WAS (SkyGlow Wireless Autonomous Sensor) which will help to measure the impact of artificial night lighting on the natural protected areas of Macaronesia.
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  • Casiana Muñoz Tuñón, deputy director of the IAC
    Interview
    CASIANA MUÑOZ-TUÑÓN “ If they aren’t controlled, in only a few years the satellite constellations will have a serious impact on ground-based astronomy”
    Between 3rd and 8th October the Conference “Dark and Quiet Skies for Science and Society” will be held in La Palma. It will convene a small group of specialists from throughout the world to suggest solutions to the problems facing Astronomy and citizens in general due to the increase of artificial lighting, the increase in radio signals produced by technological development, and the impact of the recent satellite constellations. Question: What is the objective of this Conference? Reply: In October 2020 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) together with the United Nations’ Office for
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  • The image shows the process of nuclear feeding of a black hole in the galaxy NGC 1566, and how the dust filaments - seen in white-blue colors- are trapped and rotating in a spiral around the black hole until the black hole swallows them. Credit: ESO.
    Research news
    Dust in the central parsecs of unobscured AGN provides more challenges to the torus
    The black holes at the centres of galaxies are the most mysterious objects in the Universe, not only because of the huge quantities of material within them, millions of times the mass of the Sun, but because of the incredibly dense concentration of matter in a volume no bigger than that of our Solar System. When they capture matter from their surroundings they become active, eventually giving rise to the ejection of huge amounts of energy. It is however difficult to detect the black hole during these capture episodes because the event is rare. We detected l ong and narrow dust filaments
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