The number of identified primitive low-metallicity stars has steadily grown. Today, we know of stars with less than one ten-millionth of the solar iron content, but no stars completely devoid of metals —known as Population III (Pop III)— have been identified so far. It was commonly accepted that only massive, short-lived Pop III stars formed from

CELESTE represents a visionary initiative by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) for positioning the Canary Islands as a hub of excellence for pioneering research and technology development centered on two interlinked domains—Advanced Optical Systems and New Space. CELESTE will elevate IACTEC (the IAC’s division dedicated to industry

The overarching goal of ChronoGal is to unveil the sequence of events and physical processes that have shaped the Milky Way (MW) from its early assembly to the present, by providing the holy grail of Galactic Archaeology (GA): precise age information. Our Galaxy is key to study disk galaxy formation and evolution, as it can be analyzed in

One of the most significant discoveries of the past decades is the realization that there are more planets than stars in our Galaxy, with a planet diversity that has far surpassed our expectations. A major focus of 21st-century astronomy is the characterization of Earthsized planets in the habitable zones (HZPs) around nearby M dwarfs and the