The largest known molecules in space, fullerenes, do not occur in hydrogen-poor environments as previously thought. Fullerenes are very stable molecules and difficult to destroy, they have a structure very similiar to that of a soccer ball and made of 60 carbon atoms arranged in three-dimensional spherical structures and patterns of alternative hexagons and pentagons. These molecules were synthesized in the laboratory by chemists Harold Kroto and Richard Smalley, who thus received the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Kroto and Smalley, according to the laboratory experiments, believed that

As we enhance the spatial resolution and sensitivity of spectro-polarimetric measurements, it becomes increasingly evident that highly dynamic magnetic fields permeate the whole quiet Sun. These weak magnetic flux concentrations emerge somewhat preferentially in granules, where plasma motions are more favorable for the magnetic fields to rise across the solar atmosphere. Surprisingly (due to their weak nature), organized structures in the form of Omega-shaped loops survive convective motions and reach higher layers, at least the lower chromosphere (Martínez González & Bellot Rubio 2009

The Moon's changeable aspect during a lunar eclipse is largely attributable to variations in the refracted unscattered sunlight absorbed by the terrestrial atmosphere that occur as the satellite crosses the Earth's shadow. The contribution to the Moon's aspect from sunlight scattered at the Earth's terminator is generally deemed minor. However, our analysis of a published spectrum of the 16 August 2008 lunar eclipse shows that diffuse sunlight is a major component of the measured spectrum at wavelengths shorter than 600 nm. The conclusion is supported by two distinct features, namely the

We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of the members of three previously cataloged compact group (CG) candidatesat redshifts $z>0.3$. These confirm spectroscopic  redshifts compatiblewith being gravitationally bound structures  at redshifts 0.3112, 0.3848and 0.3643 respectively, and then they are the most distant  CGs known with  spectroscopic confirmation for all their members.  The morphological and spectroscopic properties of all their galaxies  indicate early types dominated by an old population of stars, with little star formation or nuclear activity. Most of the

The Kepler mission has made an important observation, the first detection of photons from a terrestrial planet by observing its phase curve (Kepler-10b). This opens a new field in exoplanet science: the possibility to get information about the atmosphere and surface of rocky planets, objects of prime interest. In this letter, we apply the Lava-ocean model to interpret the observed phase curve. The model, a planet with no atmosphere and a surface partially made of molten rocks, has been proposed for planets of the class of CoRoT-7b, i.e. rocky planets very close to their star (at few stellar

Un equipo, con participación del Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) ha descubierto, por casualidad, una docena de sistemas estelares binarios con peculiaridades jamás vistas.