This telescope was launched this morning from the Kourou (French Guyana) base of the European Space Agency (ESA) to observe minute changes in the brightness of stars, and to analyze the density and the composition of the exoplanets in orbit around them. In this project, led by ESA and Switzerland, there are 21 scientific institutions from ten countries participating, among them two researchers from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC). The aim of the Cheops telescope is to follow exoplanets already discovered to make precision analyses of their densities, which is an essential step

Researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF, Italy) have shown that massive early-type galaxies keep on forming stars, even though at a very slow rate. The results of this work, whose first author is the doctoral student at the IAC/ULL Núria Salvador-Rusiñol, are published today in the journal Nature Astronomy. Elliptical and lenticular galaxies (collectively called Early-Type galaxies) are the oldest galaxies in the Universe. They are also the most massive galaxies in the Universe, reaching up to 100 times the mass of the

On the nights of 13th and 14th December we will be able to enjoy the maximum of the Geminids meteor shower. The event will be broadcast live from the Teide Observatory (Tenerife), via the sky-live TV channel, on the night of December 14th, with the collaboration of the European project EELabs. The Geminids, along with the Perseids, are the biggest meteor showers of the year. Reliable and punctual, the Geminids never fail. The activity during the last ten years has always reached over 100 meteors per hour (ZHR “Zenith hourly rate”) putting it in the top rank of the annual meteor showers. Each

The scientific meeting about the largest optical and infrared telescope in the world was inaugurated today, Wednesday 12th December, in the centre of the University-Business Foundation of the University of Valencia. The meeting, which will continue until Friday, is focused on the analysis of the most recent resuilts obtained with the GTC and on future observational strategies.

An international research team from the Institute de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the University of Stockholm have discovered around a hundred very red light sources which appear and disappear in a short time interval, according to an article published in the Astronomical Journal. The study began with a sample of 600 million objects imaged on the sky which date from the decade of the 1950’s, comparing them with a matching modern survey. The result was to identify up to 150,000 objects, which were not repeated in the two catalogues. In a preliminary study of these light sources 100

Between the 12th and 14th December there will be a meeting in Valencia in which the most recent results obtained with the Gran Telescopio Canarias, the largest optical and infrared telescope in the world, will be presented.