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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  • Participants in the "2023 Visiting Researchers" programme of Fundació Occident
    Photomontage
    The "Visiting Researchers" programme of the Occident Foundation strengthens the commitment to attract prestigious scientific personnel to the IAC
    Nine internationally renowned specialists in the field of astrophysics have participated this year in the "Visiting Researchers" programme of the Occident Foundation (formerly the Jesús Serra Foundation), spending a minimum of one month and up to three months at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). As in previous editions, the invited researchers have been able to work together with members of the scientific teams of the different lines of research of this institute. The "Visiting Researchers" programme aims to attract the presence of internationally renowned researchers to
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  • Antonia Varela Pérez
    Photomontage
    New Director of the Museum of Science and Cosmos
    Antonia Varela Pérez has been appointed by the Cabildo of Tenerife, at the proposal of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), as the new director of the Museum of Science and the Cosmos. Varela will take over from Héctor Socas Navarro, also a researcher at the IAC, who has been in charge of the Museum since 2019. Varela is a researcher at the IAC and a member of the IAC's Sky Quality Group for the Characterisation of the Canary Observatories and the Starburst Formation Group. She is also managing director of the Starlight Foundation and president of BPW Canarias, as well as a PhD in
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  • Father Juan Casanovas at the OT
    Photomontage
    An asteroid is named after the Jesuit Juan Casanovas, founder of the Solar Physics group at the IAC
    Father Juan Casanovas (1929-2013), a Jesuit astronomer who played an important role in the early years of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has had his name given to asteroid (620307) Casanovas according to a recent announcement in the IAU Bulletin WGSBN. Father Casanovas joined the Observatorio del Teide, then recently created, in 1968, in which he founded the Solar Physics section, and pushed ahead with early testing campaigns which convinced the international scientific community of the excellence of Tenerife and La Palma for solar observations. Thanks to his knowledge of
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  • Composición de la lluvia de meteoros Gemínidas 2022 sobre los telescopios TTT
    Press release
    Gemínidas en defensa del cielo nocturno
    Tras cuatro años de actividades, el proyecto Interreg EELabs llega a su fin y, como broche final, la noche del 14 de diciembre, a partir de las 22:30 UT (hora local en Canarias), retransmitirá la lluvia de meteoros de las Gemínidas a través del canal sky-live.tv desde el Observatorio del Teide (Tenerife) y El Anillo (Extremadura). Las llamadas “estrellas fugaces” son en realidad pequeñas partículas de polvo de distintos tamaños (entre fracciones de milímetros hasta centímetros de diámetro) que van dejando los cometas -o asteroides- a lo largo de sus órbitas alrededor del Sol. La nube de
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  • Falcon 9 de SpaceX con el satélite ALISIO-1
    Press release
    El IAC envía al Espacio el primer satélite canario
    ALISIO-1, el primer satélite propio del Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), ha iniciado su viaje al espacio este viernes, 1 de diciembre, a bordo de un cohete de SpaceX. El lanzamiento que ha tenido lugar a las 18:19 horas desde la Base Vandenberg de la Fuerza Aérea Estadounidense situada en California (EEUU), se ha desarrollado sin ningún contratiempo El presidente del Gobierno de Canarias, Fernando Clavijo, que ha presidido el lanzamiento del primer satélite canario, ha valorado el exitoso trabajo que viene realizando el Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias y ha dicho que “sitúa a
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  • Corriente gigante de Coma
    Press release
    A huge stream of stars is discovered in the Coma cluster
    An international team of scientists, with participation by researchers at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has discovered a very large, but thin, stream of stars in the Coma cluster of galaxies. This is the largest stream of stars detected until now, and the first to be found in a cluster of galaxies. This finding, which is published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, was made using observations taken with the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Garafía, La Palma, Canary Islands). The Coma Cluster is a large cluster of galaxies
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