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 outreach program "Our Students and the ORM," (“ Nuestr@s Alumn@s y el ORM”) aimed at schools in La Palma, is celebrating its 15th edition and is commemorating its 15th anniversary with unanimous recognition from its user community. This consolidated initiative of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM) of the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics (IAC) has concluded this academic year with 100% satisfaction from the schools in La Palma that participated in this edition. This program seeks to bring font-line science and technology to the island's younger generations by involving

El Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) ha celebrado, este jueves 24 de julio de 2025, el 40 aniversario de la inauguración oficial de su sede central y de sus dos observatorios. Un acto que ha estado centrado en destacar el trabajo de los cientos de personas que han contribuido a convertir el IAC en uno de los centros de excelencia investigadora y técnica más importantes del mundo. En el acto, el director fundador del IAC, Francisco Sánchez, ha tenido un papel fundamental pese a que sus problemas de salud no le hayan permitido participar en el mismo. El lema de este 40 aniversario ha

The four large sized telescopes of the CTAO on La Palma reach a key milestone in their construction The LST-2 telescope has successfully completed the installation of its camera support structure (CSS), making it the last of the four Large Sized Telescopes ( LST ) to reach this important milestone in its construction at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) on La Palma. This telescope is part of the ambitious CTAO ( Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory ) project, which will create the world's largest network of telescopes for the detection

An international team of astronomers, including researchers from the IAC, have performed a unique cosmic test - measuring the mass of an ancient star using two entirely different methods, finding agreement to within just 1.4%. This result marks a milestone in our ability to determine the ages of old stars and use them as living fossils to study the Milky Way’s distant past. The team analysed the red giant in the binary system KIC 10001167 using two independent approaches: firstly, by measuring the brightness and radial velocity variations due to the orbital motion of the binary, and secondly