A team of astronomers has discovered that galaxies with an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) –hosting continuously growing black holes that emit large amounts of energy and radiation– may undergo a period of rapid star birth before shutting down completely. The research, conducted by astronomers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the University of Southampton and the Institute of Space Sciences, ICE (IEEC- CSIC) , was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. The Universe is filled with trillions of galaxies, each one comprising billions of stars

During the nights of 12th and 13th of December we will enjoy the peak of the Geminid meteor shower. This will be broadcast live from the Teide Observatory (Tenerife) via the sky-live.tv channel, with the collaboration with the Energy Efficiency Labs (EELabs) project, of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). During the past decade the Geminids have always bid farewell to the year by producing over 100 meteors per hour (Zenith Hourly Rate, ZHR. In 2020 produce over 130 meteors/hour) which puts them in the annual front rank of meteor showers, together with the Perseids and the

An international team, including researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has discovered an extrasolar planet with half the mass of the Earth that takes approximately eight hours to orbit its parent star, a red dwarf just under 31 light-years from Earth. Called GJ 367 b, it is one of the lightest among the nearly 5.000 exoplanets known today. With a diameter of just over 9000 kilometres, this sub-Earth is slightly larger than Mars. The discovery not only demonstrates that it is possible to precisely determine the event the smallest, least massive exoplanets, but also

An international team of scientists, in which researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participate together with other institutions from Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium, UK, and Mexico, has been able to measure the masses of the giant planets of the V1298 Tau system, just 20 million year old. Masses for such young giant planets had not been obtained previously, and this is the first evidence that these objects have already reached their final size at very early stages of their evolution. For this study they have used radial velocity measurements from the HARPS-N

65 doctoral students and postgraduate researchers from 15 different countries participated, for 9 days, in the XXXII Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics, which this year was focused on clusters of galaxies, the largest gravitationally bound structures that we can observe in the Universe. Of the full complement of students, 55 were present at the school, while the other 10 followed the course on internet. As well as being one fo the first astrophysics meetings celebrated internationally with students present, this edition of the IAC Winter School was noteworthy for the highest