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.

  • Robert P. Kirshner, Executive Director of the Thirty Metre Telescope International Observatory (TIO), during his talk at the IAC.
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has received a visit from Robert P. Kirshner, Executive Director of the Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory (TIO) . During his stay at the IAC headquarters in La Laguna, he was welcomed by the center’s director, Valentín Martínez Pillet, and by the deputy director, Eva Villaver Sobrino, along with other members of the research institute. During his visit, he was able to learn firsthand about the institution’s scientific and technological capabilities and gave a colloquium titled The Thirty Meter Telescope and Science of the Future
    Advertised on
  • tesscarmenes
    The TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) mission has discovered many exoplanet candidates that need to be confirmed and characterized from the ground. One of them orbits Ross 176, a K-type dwarf star, where we have identified a promising hot “water-world” candidate. Using spectroscopic observations with the CARMENES instrument, we confirmed the planetary nature of the signal detected by TESS and estimated the planet’s mass. To improve the analysis, we applied an advanced statistical method called Gaussian Process, which allowed us to separate the star’s own variability (quite strong
    Advertised on
  • Poster for the 16th Gaia Science Alerts and ACME Time-Domainel workshops
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) will host the Gaia Alerts 2025 conference, the 16th Gaia Science Alerts and ACME Time-Domain Workshop, from 29 September to 3 October 2025 at IACTEC in La Laguna (Tenerife). The meeting marks a milestone moment for the Gaia mission , celebrating the end of its science observations, and convenes the international community to chart the next decade of discovery in time-domain and multimessenger astrophysics. Time-domain astronomy has rapidly become a cornerstone of modern astrophysics, revealing the dynamic Universe, from stellar explosions and
    Advertised on
  • Cartel de la Noche Europea de los Investigadores e investigadoras de la Macaronesia
    El Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias organiza visitas guiadas y participa en la Feria de las Vocaciones Científicas de Canarias dentro de la Noche Europea de los Investigadores de la Macaronesia El Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participará en MacaroNight 2025, la Noche Europea de los Investigadores e investigadoras de la Macaronesia, con dos actividades dirigidas a estudiantes de diferentes niveles educativos para acercar la astrofísica y fomentar las vocaciones científicas entre la juventud canaria. Visitas guiadas a la sede central del IAC Los días 22 y 23 de septiembre, el
    Advertised on
  • Poster for the first edition of ‘Astronomy on Tap – Canary Islands’
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) announces the arrival of the Astronomy on Tapinternational talk series in Spain, with its very first edition to be held in Tenerife. This outreach initiative, which was created in the United States and has since expanded worldwide, will now take place in the Canary Islands under the name "Astronomy on Tap – Canary Islands” and the local nickname “AstroTragos,” and is carried out within the framework of the EDUCADO and ExGal-Twin projects at IAC. The debut event will be held at the Búho Club (Calle Catedral, 3, La Laguna, Tenerife) on Thursday
    Advertised on
  • An artist's impression of Japan’s Hayabusa2 space mission touching down on the surface of the asteroid 1998 KY26.
    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
    Advertised on