The IAC has participated in the detection of the counterpart, in the visible, the infrared and X-rays, of the source of gravitational waves GW170817 (neutron stars merging). The results are being published in the journals Nature and Astrophysical Journal. This is the first time that the electromagnetic counterpart of a gravitational wave event has been detected, which has been announced this morning in pressconferences organized by the research groups involved, among them the Universidad de las Illes Balears and the Universidad de Valencia, along with large part of the astrophysic and

Henrietta Leavitt fue una de esas figuras ocultas de la Ciencia que desarrolló un brillante trabajo en el Observatorio de Harvard. Sus valiosas aportaciones a la Astronomía, como su relación período-luminosidad para calcular grandes distancias en el Universo, no fueron suficientes para recibir en su época el reconocimiento que se merecía. Por ello, el Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), en colaboración con la Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT), le rinde homenaje a través del proyecto transversal “El regreso de Henrietta Leavitt. De la escuela a la carrera

This morning in the city of Tacoronte the second mural by “Sabotaje al Montaje” about the American woman astronomer was presented; it is a part of the project “The Return of Henrietta Leavitt. From school to a scientific career by way of the theatre”. This is an initiative whose aim is to highlight the role of women in science and encourage scientific careers for girls. Henrietta Leavitt is the main carácter in the play which will first be produced in the “Capitol” Municipal Auditorium in Tacoronte on October 21st.

The Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome has hosted today the first European presentation of the European Solar Telescope (EST) in the frame of the preparatory phase for its construction, expected to star in 2021.

Este instrumento, en el que el IAC participa en su diseño y construcción, así como en el grupo científico, ha estudiado una muestra de trescientas estrellas en busca de planetas similares a la Tierra, demostrando su perfecto funcionamiento.

Invited by Nature Astronomy, Cristina Ramos Almeida, researcher at the IAC, and Claudio Ricci, from the Institute of Astronomy of the Universidad Católica de Chile, publish in this journal a review of the most recent results on the material that obscures active galactic nuclei obtained from infrared and X-ray observations, their respective fields of research.