The DRAGO-2 instrument, developed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and launched in January from Cape Canaveral, has sent its first images of the Earth from space, showing a resolution six times better than that of its predecessor DRAGO-1. The space-borne camera DRAGO-2, (Demonstrator for Remote Analysis of Ground Observations), launched into space on January 4th, is the second instrument designed by IACTEC-Space. It observes in the short wavelength infrared, (acronym SWIR), a range invisible to the human eye, but nevertheless very useful for many studies and applications. In

A study led by the researcher Susana Iglesias of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias has detected the presence of large quantities of complex organic molecules in one of the nearest star forming regions to the Solar System. The results of this have been published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The scientists Susan Iglesias-Groth, of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and Martina Marín-Dobrincic of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena have discovered the presence of numerous prebiotic molecules in the star formation region IC348 of the

An international team led by researchers based in Poland, Spain, and Germany, has predicted the probable existence of a large number of ultradiffuse galaxies in the Local Group which still have not been observed. These galaxies would have masses of up to a thousand million solar masses, spread out over an area comparable to the size of the Milky Way, which is a thousand times more massive. This would make them very faint and difficult to observe, which is why they have not been seen until now. Only af ew have been found in the Local Group, and the question has been raised of how many could

An international scientific team, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participates, has discovered a large reservoir of hot gas in the still-forming galaxy cluster around the Spiderweb galaxy. The finding reveals that this protocluster, far from dispersing, will end up gravitationally bound for the rest of its existence. Located at an epoch when the Universe was only 3 billion years old, this is the first time such a hot gas has been detected at such distances. The study, published in Nature, confirms that galaxy clusters, one of the largest known structures in the

The Japanese ambassador to Spain, Takahiro Nakamae, visited the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM) in the municipality of Garafía (La Palma) last weekend, 25th and 26th March. The Japanese delegation was completed by Kensuke Katsuda, Second Secretary; Yoji Kitamura, Councillor for Economic Affairs and Akira Kusunoki, Consul of Japan in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. They were received by the director of the IAC, Rafael Rebolo, the vice-director, Casiana Muñoz and the administrator of the ORM, Juan Carlos Pérez Arencibia. The ambassador's visit began with a meeting with the president of