Today, Friday 16th August, the traditional Open Day of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM) was held for the residents of the village of Garafía, in La Palma. With this event, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participates in the programme of the Fiestas Patronales of the municipality where the Observatory is located. This fraternisation event, between the town and the scientific, technical and working staff who work at the centre's facilities, has been taking place since the first years of its opening and celebrates its 39th edition. The IAC and the scientific

UNDARK is a pioneering project led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) bringing together outstanding international institutions in the fields of astrophysics, cosmology, and particle physics. Funded for three years via the 'Widening' programme of the European Union, its objective is to tackle one of the major puzzles of contemporary physics: the dark universe. The major part of the Cosmos is composed by the so-called “dark universe”. Barely 18% of the total matter in the universe is made up of the elements in atoms with which we are familiar, while the remaining 82%, termed

An international piece of research, led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has found clues to the nature of some of the brightest and hottest stars in our Universe, called blue supergiants. Although these stars are commonly observed, their origin has been an old puzzle that has been debated for several decades. By simulating novel stellar models and analysing a large data sample in the Large Magellanic Cloud, IAC researchers have found strong evidence that most blue supergiants may have formed from the merger of two stars bound in a binary system. The study is published in the