The agreement between the two institutions aims at strengthening scientific and technological collaboration between the two countries, and to guarantee access for the astronomical community of the NAOC to observing time on the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS.

The launch of the OSIRIS-REx probe, planned for 8th September, will study Bennu, one of the oldest asteroids in the Solar System. It could yield clues to its origin and to life on Earth. Researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Javier Licandro and Julia de León are members of the group of scientists who will study this asteroid.

The European project STARS4ALL and sky-live.tv offer the Northern Lights live from Iceland and Greenland. STARS4ALL’s proposal also includes educational activities for students.

As happens every year, the Perseids –also known popularly in Spain as “St Lawrence's tears”– show their peak of activity in mid-August. This year the activity of the Perseids will occur between July 17th and August 25th. However the maximum is expected between 13.00 h and 15.30 h Universal Time (UT, one hour more in the Canaries and two hours more in the Spanish peninsula) on August 12th. In Europe the nights of August 11th to12th and 12th to 13th will be the best time to observe the Perseids, in other words the night before and the night following this maximum of activity, which will occur

With a visit to the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory the playwright from La Palma ends his visit in the framework of the project “In a certain place in the Universo...” Impressed by the scientific and technical level of the IAC and the Canary Island Observatories

The French Ambassador to Spain, Yves Saint-Geours, visited the Headquarters of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) yesterday morning, and in the afternoon he visited the Teide Observatory, Izaña (Tenerife) accompanied by the Consul, Francisco de Esteban García, in order to learn about the programmes of scientific collaboration in which France and the IAC are jointly involved. During his visit to the Institute, the Ambassador was accompanied by the Director of the IAC, Rafael Rebolo, and was told about the projects of research and technical development in which France is