On the night of 5th of October a star in the sky “was switched off”. Triton, the largest of the moons of Neptune, at some 4,500 million kilometres from the Earth passed in front of the star UCAC4 410-143659, briefly occulting it. It is not at all frequent that during their “cosmic passage” around the Sun, the planets and their satellites cross the line of sight to a distant star, but the telescopes of the Canary Island Observatories, among others, were able to point to the sky just when this occultation, which lasted 145 seconds, was taking place. Its occultation was observed with diverse

The results of this research, published in Astrophysical Journal Letters and in which the IAC participated, suggest an extragalactic origin and will help to understand how stars evolve and how the chemical elements are formed within the stellar interior

Henrietta Leavitt fue una de esas figuras ocultas de la Ciencia que desarrolló un brillante trabajo en el Observatorio de Harvard. Sus valiosas aportaciones a la Astronomía, como su relación período-luminosidad para calcular grandes distancias en el Universo, no fueron suficientes para recibir en su época el reconocimiento que se merecía. Por ello, el Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), en colaboración con la Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT), le rinde homenaje a través del proyecto transversal “El regreso de Henrietta Leavitt. De la escuela a la carrera

The IAC has participated in the detection of the counterpart, in the visible, the infrared and X-rays, of the source of gravitational waves GW170817 (neutron stars merging). The results are being published in the journals Nature and Astrophysical Journal. This is the first time that the electromagnetic counterpart of a gravitational wave event has been detected, which has been announced this morning in pressconferences organized by the research groups involved, among them the Universidad de las Illes Balears and the Universidad de Valencia, along with large part of the astrophysic and

This morning in the city of Tacoronte the second mural by “Sabotaje al Montaje” about the American woman astronomer was presented; it is a part of the project “The Return of Henrietta Leavitt. From school to a scientific career by way of the theatre”. This is an initiative whose aim is to highlight the role of women in science and encourage scientific careers for girls. Henrietta Leavitt is the main carácter in the play which will first be produced in the “Capitol” Municipal Auditorium in Tacoronte on October 21st.

A mural of Street art produced by “Sabotaje al Montaje” which pays tribute to this American astronomer was presented this morning on behalf of the University of La Laguna (ULL) and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) in the neighbourhood of the Faculty of Science. The initiative is part of the multidisciplinary Project “The return of Henrietta Leavitt. From school to a research career by way of the theatre” whose aim is to focus on the role of women in science, and to encourage girls to take up scientific careers.