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.

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  • Fases del eclipse total de Luna en julio de 2018
    Press release
    A dawn eclipse
    Three years after the previous broadcast of a lunar eclipse, in the early morning of Sunday 15th to Monday 16th of May the Sky-live.tv channel will give live coverage of this awaited astronomical event from the Canary Observatories. On Monday 16th May, starting at 02:27 UT the Moon will again enter the shadow of the Earth, and will take on the coppery glow which is so characteristic of lunar eclipses. This event will be visible from the Canaries starting at 03:27 a.m. local Canary time, and in the Peninsula, where dawn will arrive with the Moon eclipsed, from 04:27h. From that time, the moon
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  • The students from Barlovento, with Gloria Andreuzzi, the first to come back to the Observatory
    Press release
    The educational programme “ Our students and the Roque de los Muchachos” is starting up again
    After a break of two years due to the pandemic, the students of the 4th ESO class in La Palma will again be able to get to know about the astrophysics research carried out at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, in company with volunteer astronomers from the various telescopes. After ten seasons of the educational programme “Our Students and the Roque de los Muchachos” this school course is starting up again live, during this school year, with a new format which for the first time includes a visit to the Visitor Centre of the Roque de los Muchachos, thanks to the collaboration of the
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  • 1ES 1927+654
    Press release
    Astronomers observe potential magnetic flip around a supermassive black hole
    An international research, in which a team from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has participated, has provided new evidence for an enigmatic outburst from a galaxy 216 million light-years away, proposing a new interpretation based on a spontaneous flip of the magnetic field surrounding its central black hole. The study has used joint data from different satellites and telescopes, including the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) and the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), both located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Garafía, La Palma). The results will be published in
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  • Una imagen ilustrada de un púlsar viuda negra y su compañera estelar. Créditos: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Cruz deWilde
    Press release
    Astronomers discover a “black widow” binary star system with the shortest orbital period known
    The research, carried out by an international group incuding the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias(IAC) and the University of La Laguna (ULL) also show that the binary system has a third star orbiting it , and which could have originated from close to the centre of the Milky Way. While the Earth takes 365 days to complete its orbit round the Sun, the star which orbits the new found pulsar ZTF J1406+1222 does it in 62 minutes, which makes it a neutron star in a binary system termed a “black widow”, with the shortest period measured until now. These data were obtained using the ultra-high
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  • Rocky planets
    Press release
    Astronomers discover a four-planet system with a peculiar migration process
    An international research, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participates, has discovered a new planetary system comprised of 4 planets orbiting the star TOI-500. This is the first system known to host an Earth analogue with a period shorter than one day and 3 additional low-mass planets whose orbital configuration can be explained via a non-violent and smooth migration scenario. The study is published in the journal Nature Astronomy. The inner planet, dubbed TOI-500b, is a so-called ultra-short period (USP) planet, as its orbital period is only 13 hours. It is regarded
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  • Iglesia Camino de Santiago
    Press release
    The cultural and sky landscape of the Way of Saint James
    A study led by the researcher of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias Maitane Urrutia-Aparicio has shown the relevance of sunrise on Easter Sunday, one of the most important Christian festivities, in the orientation of Romanesque churches on the Camino de Santiago. This work exposes the close relationship between the sky and the orientation of the constructions of the Jacobean Route. It also shows that medieval societies already included temporal symbolism in the construction of their temples. The latest research results have been published in the journal Sustainability. "The main
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