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
  • Combined image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS formed by 239 exposures of 50 seconds taken with the Two-metre Twin Telescope (TTT3) at the Teide Observatory.
    Press release
    3I/ATLAS: The IAC is monitoring closely the third interstellar object detected in the Solar System
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is actively participating in the observation of object 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1 ATLAS), initially included as A11pl3Z in the confirmed list of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) of the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre (IAU/MPC). The object, which has been shown to be the third interstellar object detected in our solar system, was discovered by one of the telescopes in the ATLAS network for the detection and early warning of asteroids on an Earth-impact trajectory. The IAC is part of this network with its new telescope structure, ATLAS
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  • An artist's impression of PLATO, a European mission that will search for Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting neighbouring stars from 2026 onwards.
    Press release
    PLATO reaches a milestone in its construction, and is getting ready to look for planets similar to Earth
    The PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of Stars) space mission, led by the European Space Agency (ESA), has recently completed one of the most delicate phases of its development: the integration of its main components, the 26 scientific cameras and the service module that houses all the instrument's acquisition, processing, and control electronics. This stage, carried out at the facilities of the aerospace company OHB in Germany, marks a fundamental step toward the launch scheduled for December 2026 from French Guiana aboard an Ariane 6 rocket. “Almost eight years after ESA gave the
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  • Valentín Martínez Pillet, the director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC).
    Photomontage
    Valentín Martínez Pillet, the Director of the IAC, elected as Corresponding Academician of the Spanish Royal Academy of Science
    The director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Professor Valentín Martínez Pillet, has been appointed Corresponding Academician of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences of Spain . This recognition recognizes his career and contributions to the scientific field. This follows the recent appointment of Antxón Alberdi Odriozola, current director of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia , who has also been elected Corresponding Academician of the same institution. With these new appointments, the presence of astronomers in the Royal Academy of Sciences
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  • Installation of the scientific detector in the FRIDA instrument at the UNAM laboratories in Mexico City.
    Press release
    The IAC successfully integrates the scientific detector into FRIDA, a new high-resolution instrument for the Grantecan
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has successfully completed the integration of the scientific detector into the FRIDA (inFRared Imager and Dissector for Adaptive Optics) instrument, an integra-field camera and spectrograph designed to work with the adaptive optics system of the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC or Grantecan), the world's largest optical and infrared telescope, located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma. The integration was carried out in the laboratories of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City by a team from the IAC
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  • Visita de la delegación del Instituto de Óptica, Mecánica Fina y Física de Changchun (CIOMP) al IAC.
    Photomontage
    El IAC y CIOMP coordinan la fabricación de los espejos del telescopio SELF
    El Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) ha recibido la visita de una delegación del Instituto de Óptica, Mecánica Fina y Física de Changchun (CIOMP), perteneciente a la Academia China de Ciencias (CAS), en el marco de una colaboración técnica vinculada al desarrollo del telescopio SELF ( small Exo Life Finder), prototipo de 3,5 metros del futuro telescopio ELF. La delegación estuvo encabezada por el Prof. ZHANG Xuejun, presidente de CIOMP y recientemente nombrado académico de la Academia China de Ingeniería (CAE), y contó con la participación del ingeniero senior Lingtong Zhang y del
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    Research news
    A new way to measure the distance to NGC1052-DF2
    O ne of the key challenges in astronomy is to measure accurate distances to celestial objects. Knowing distances is crucial since it allows us to measure physical properties such as size, mass and luminosity. Since we can’t go out and use a tape-measure, a range of different approaches have been developed. Many of these approaches rely on using “standard candles”. Standard candles are objects (for example stars or supernovae) for which we know their intrinsic ”true” brightness. Once we know this, then their observed brightness compared to their intrinsic brightness gives us a distance to the
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