One of the biggest recent surprises in astronomy is the discovery that most stars like the Sun harbor a planet between the size of Earth and Neptune within the orbit of Mercury — sizes and orbits absent from our solar system. These ‘ super-Earths' and ` sub-Neptunes’ are the galaxy's most common planets, but their formation has been shrouded in mystery. Now, an international team of astronomers has found a crucial missing link. By weighing four newborn planets in the V1298 Tau system, they've captured a rare snapshot of worlds in the process of transforming into the galaxy's most common

Astronomers have used telescopes around the world, includingthe Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC or Grantecan) at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, to study the asteroid 1998 KY26, revealing it to be almost three times smaller and spinning much faster than previously thought. The asteroid is the 2031 target for Japan’s Hayabusa2 extended mission. The new observations offer key information for the mission’s operations at the asteroid. “We found that the reality of the object is completely different from what it was previously described as,” says astronomer Toni Santana-Ros, a

The headquarters of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and its technological headquarters, IACTEC, open their doors to the public at their Open Days as part of Open Government Week 2025. This initiative, promoted by the Open Government Partnership worldwide, seeks to bring public administrations closer to citizens and promote the values of transparency, integrity, participation and accountability. The event at the IAC headquarters will take place on Monday 19 May, while the IACTEC will open its doors on Tuesday 20 May. Both days will be held in person, with two visiting hours