The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias has put itself on the frontier of astrophysical technology by developing the first integrated photonic circuit designed entirely within the Institute. This pioneering advance will permit the improvement of astronomical instruments, and the development of innovative systems for observing the universe. Astrophysical instrumentation, for both ground-based and space-based use is so specialized that often comercial systems and subsystems do not come up to the required specifications, This makes it necessary to buy high priced components or to delegate

Today, Friday 16th August, the traditional Open Day of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM) was held for the residents of the village of Garafía, in La Palma. With this event, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participates in the programme of the Fiestas Patronales of the municipality where the Observatory is located. This fraternisation event, between the town and the scientific, technical and working staff who work at the centre's facilities, has been taking place since the first years of its opening and celebrates its 39th edition. The IAC and the scientific

A new international study, using observations from the Gran Telescopio Canarias at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, has identified a plasma bubble as the source of the persistent emission observed in some of the so-called fast radio bursts (FRBs), one of the most powerful and unknown cosmic events in the Universe. The data also allow researchers to constrain the nature of the “engine” powering these mysterious sources. The results are published today in Nature. Discovered just over a decade ago, fast radio bursts (FRBs) emit millisecond-long pulses that release an immense

A new citizen science project launched today by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Euclid Consortium, in collaboration with the Zooniverse platform, will enable volunteers from around the world to identify the shapes of millions of galaxies in images taken by ESA's Euclid space telescope. The aim of the initiative is to train deep AI neural networks to build the largest morphology catalogue to date. In November 2023 and May 2024, the world got its first glimpse at the quality of Euclid’s images, targeting a variety of sources, from nearby nebulas to distant clusters of galaxies. And