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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  • David Aguado, IAC researcher who has obtained the ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council.
    Press release
    The IAC wins the third ERC European Council 2025 grant with a project about the first stars in the Universe
    IAC researcher David Aguado has obtained a prestigious Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC), aimed at promoting promising young scientists. This is the third ERC grant -one of the most competitive and recognized of the Horizon Europe program- that the center has received so far this year, thus consolidating its international projection. These highly competitive grants provide up to €1.5 million over five years to support outstanding young scientists in establishing their own independent research groups and pursuing pioneering scientific ideas. Searching for the first stars
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  • R1_mass
    Research news
    A physically motivated galaxy size definition across different state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations
    Measuring galaxy sizes is essential for understanding how they were formed and evolved across time. However, traditional methods based on l ight concentration or isophotal densities often lack a clear physical meaning. A recent study from Trujillo+20 explores a more physically motivated definition: the radius R 1, where the stellar surface density falls to 1 solar masses per parsec square —roughly the threshold for gas to form stars in galaxies like the Milky Way. In this work, Arjona-Gálvez+25 uses over 1,000 galaxies from several state-of-the-art cosmological simulations (AURIGA, HESTIA
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  • Artist's impression of a binary system in which a compact star steals matter from its companion. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada
    Press release
    A team with the participation of the IAC and the ULL discovers that massive stars prefer to live in pairs even in galaxies with low metallicity
    Massive stars in metal-poor galaxies often have close partners, just like the massive stars in our metal-rich Milky Way. This has been discovered by an international scientific team in which research staff from the Instituto de Aastrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Universidad de La Laguna (ULL) participate. They used the European Very Large Telescope in Chile to monitor the velocity of massive stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The research is published in Nature Astronomy . For the past twenty years, astronomers have known that many massive stars in the metal-rich Milky Way have a
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  • Phellowers realizando una observación solar en el Observatorio del Teide en la edición de 2024. Crédito: Alejandro Amador
    Press release
    El IAC vuelve a acercar el Universo al público del Phe Festival
    El IAC colabora por segundo año consecutivo con el festival de música y tendencias de Puerto de la Cruz con actividades gratuitas que permitirán a los asistentes descubrir el Observatorio del Teide y observar el Sol con telescopios especializados. El Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) se suma nuevamente al Phe Festival , que celebra su décimo aniversario los días 5 y 6 de septiembre en Puerto de la Cruz, con un programa de actividades destinadas a acercar la Astronomía y la investigación científica al público general. La iniciativa forma parte de IAC POP, la estrategia de divulgación
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  • EIRIF technicians cut the brush to create an fire barrier in the close surroundings of the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma
    Photomontage
    The IAC collaborates in a simulated forest fire emergency of strategic importance for La Palma
    The teams of intervention and reinforcement for forest fires of the Government of the Canaries carried out trials at the roque de los Muchachos Observatory with participation by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias On July 11th the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory was host to a very important trial relevant to the safety of the mountain tops of the Island of La Palma with participation by the Teams of Intervention and Reinforcement against Forest Fires (EIRIF) of the Canary Government, and the collaboration of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). The exercise centred on two
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  • Vecinos y vecinas de Garafía junto al Gran Telescopio Canarias en el Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos
    Photomontage
    El Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos celebra su 40ª Jornada de Puertas Abiertas
    El Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) celebró el jueves 14 de agosto su tradicional Jornada de Puertas Abiertas dirigida a los vecinos y las vecinas de la Villa de Garafía, en La Palma, alcanzando su 40ª edición. Esta iniciativa, que se desarrolla desde los primeros años de funcionamiento del Observatorio, forma parte de la programación de las Fiestas Patronales del municipio palmero. El evento fortalece los vínculos entre la comunidad local y el personal científico, técnico y laboral que trabaja en las instalaciones. Adicionalmente, el IAC participó en las fiestas del municipio
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