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
  • Upper panel: artistic view of the merger of Gaia-Enceladus with the Milky Way progenitor, and the CMD inferred for their stars 10 billion years ago. Lower panel: artistic view of the current Milky Way and the CMD of the stars in the halo near the Sun, as observed by the Gaia satellite.
    Research news
    The early sequence of events that shaped the Milky Way
    Among the myriad discoveries presented in the second data release of the Gaia mission, there was an enigmatic color-magnitude diagram (CMD) of Milky Way halo stars, showing a striking double (blue/red) sequence. The blue sequence was linked to a major merger that our Galaxy experienced early in its history (Gaia-Enceladus). The origin of the red sequence was unclear, and it was generally associated, because of its chemical composition, with the Milky Way thick disk. However, the lack of accurate ages precluded a clear understanding of its nature. We compared this double-sequenced observed
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  • A view of the Mayall Telescope (tallest telescope at right) at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona. (Credit: Marilyn Chung/Berkeley Lab)
    Press release
    DESI opens its 5.000 eyes to capture the colors of the Cosmos
    The new instrument, the result of an international collaboration of almost a hundred institutions, including the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, has made its first trial observation. Designed to explore the mystery of dark energy, its installation is about to be completed at the Mayall telescope of the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona (United States).
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  • Cónsul General de la Embajada de los Estados Unidos en Madrid
    The Consul General of the Embassy of the United States in Madrid visits the IAC
    The Consul General of the Embassy of the United States in Madrid, Liza Petrush, and the Consular Agent in the Canary Islands, Ana María Quintana, recently visited the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in La Laguna, accompanied by the director of the IAC, Rafael Rebolo, in order to know the ongoing collaborative projects and the current situation regarding the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). His visit coincided with that of Dr. Nancy Levenson, deputy director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in the United States.
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  • The project Amanar, under the same sky, Astronomy for Peace and Development
    Press release
    The project “Amanar, under the same sky”, Astronomy for Peace and Development
    “Amanar: under the same sky” is an initiative by GalileoMobile in collaboration with the Canary Association for friendship with the Saharawi People (ACAPS), funded by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), via its Office of Astronomy for Development and its centenary celebrations, and by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). On Tuesday 15thOctober the second part of the project will begin, in which an international team of astronomers and teachers will travel to the refugee camps in Tindouf to engage in outreach activity with the Saharaui students and teachers- Durint the stay
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  • Recreación artística de MAXI J1820+070
    Press release
    Violent flares in the centre of a black hole system
    A international team of astronomers, led by the University of Southampton and with participation by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias has used the camera HiPERCAM on the Gran Telescopio Canarias and NASA’s NICER space observatory to make a high frame-rate movie of a growing black hole system. In the process they have discoverd violent flares in visible light and in X-rays which give new clues to help understand the immediate surroundings of these intriguing objects. The results of this study are published in the prestigious journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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