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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  • Guido Münch. Crédito: Alchetron.
    Press release
    The astronomer Guido Münch, a great friend of the IAC, has died
    Professor Guido Münch was the first astronomer to receive the Principe de Asturias Prize for Scientific and Technical Investigation in 1989 for which he was proposed by the IAC. His contributions to science included both theoretical and observational analysis of the atmosphere of the Sun and of the stars, as well as technolgical contributions which were important for the space exploration programmes Mariner, Viking, and Pioneer. Guido Münch lived for several years (1992-1996) in Tenerife, attracted by the IAC, and its observatories, and he attended conferences such as that held in La Palma
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  • RGB image of PSZ1 G158.34-47.49, one of the clusters studied, which has a spectroscopic redshift z=0.311. In the image you can see a gravitational lens arc. The photometric image was taken with ACAM/WHT; the spectroscopic data are from DOLORES/TNG.
    Press release
    IAC Scientists have characterized over 200 new clusters of galaxies first detected by the Planck satellite using the telescopes on La Palma
    An international team led by the group of Cosmology with Galaxy Clusters of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), including researchers from the University of Paris-Saclay (France) and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (Garching, Germany) has finished the optical characterization of new clusters of galaxies in the northern hemisphere, detected first by the Planck satellite using tjhe Suyaev-Zel’dovich signal. These studies allow more accurate determination of the mean matter density in the universe and other cosmological parameters. The observations, which have
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  • Three-dimensional visualization of the geometric extent of the chromosphere above active region NOAA 12565. An image of the Earth is added to provide a sense of scale.
    Research news
    A chromospheric resonance cavity in a sunspot mapped with seismology
    Sunspots are intense collections of magnetic fields that pierce through the Sun’s photosphere, with their signatures extending upwards into the outermost extremities of the solar corona. Cutting-edge observations and simulations are providing insights into the underlying wave generation, configuration and damping mechanisms found in sunspot atmospheres. However, the in situ amplification of magnetohydrodynamic waves, rising from a few hundreds of metres per second in the photosphere to several kilometres per second in the chromosphere, has, until now, proved difficult to explain. Theory
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  • Image of several of the protective screens manufactured in the Mechanical Workshop of the IAC in La Laguna. Credit: IAC.
    Press release
    The IAC is designing and making material for protection against COVID-19
    The Technology Division of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has started to design and manufacture protective screens and other sanitary material to shield against the COVID-19 virus. At the request of a number of institutions, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the IAC has designed a protective screen, which, after receiving the approval of a prototype, has started to be manufactured in series in the Mechanical Workshop of the IAC in La Laguna. At the time of writing, a total of 150 units has been distributed to the City Council of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, and the
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  • Image of several lines of Geminides observed from the Teide Observatory in the early morning of 14/12/2013. The telescope in the foreground is the OGS (ESA) and above the Teide is the constellation of Orion. Credit: J.C. Casado (StarryEarth).
    Press release
    Lyrids 2020: wishes through the window
    On the night of 21st April we will be treated to the maximum of the Lyrids meteor shower. Just as for the other recent astronomical events we will have to see them from home, so that we will need to be very patient, because they will appear with a frequency of barely one every 10 or 15 minutes.
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  • Impresión artística de la estrella HD 93396 y su planeta. Crédito: ESA.
    Press release
    The CHEOPS mission, in which the IAC is participating, observes its first exoplanets
    CHEOPS, the new exoplanet mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) in coordination with Switzerland, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is participating along with other European instituttions, has successfully complete its almost three month period of the verification and calibration of its instrument, with better results than expected. Astrophysicists from the IAC are leading a group of researchers and engineers who recommend the type of observations to monitor the behaviour of the satellite during its time in space and, as part of the science team, participate in
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