DISCOVERY OF A GIANT PLANET AROUND A TINY STAR

CHALLENGES THEORIES OF PLANET FORMATION

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) participated in the discovery through key observations with the
1.5-meter telescopeat the Sierra Nevada Observatory (OSN), which confirmed the existence of the giant planet
The finding contradicts current theories on the formation of giant planets and opens a promising path for future research

NOT ALL ACTIVE GALAXIES ARE THE SAME:

INFRARED OBSERVATIONS REVEAL TWO DISTINCT FAMILIES

The work is led by Enrique Pérez Montero, researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC),
who, after losing his sight in the course of his scientific career, studies the intricacies of the cosmos through sound
The research focuses on the use of the infrared range to study active galaxy nucleus,
considered among the most energetic objects in the universe

NEW CLUES TO UNDERSTANDING THE LOSS OF THE

WATER MARS HOSTEDBILLIONS OF YEARS AGO

The study, led by the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) and published in Nature Astronomy,
analyzes the role of Mars’ axial tilt in the planet’s water loss
The scientific team has incorporated key improvements into the climate model used, allowing for
a more accurate representation of current hydrogen escape—and therefore water loss—into space

Headlines

The study, led by the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) and published in Nature Astronomy, analyzes the role of Mars’ axial tilt in the planet’s water loss The scientific team has incorporated key improvements into the climate model used, allowing for a more accurate representation of current hydrogen escape—and therefore water loss—into space

New clues to understanding the loss of the water Mars hosted billions of...

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New clues to understanding the loss of the water Mars hosted billions of years ago

Mars is now an extremely arid planet, with pressure and temperature conditions that prevent liquid water from existing on its surface. However, geological and mineralogical evidence points to the presence of large volumes of water in the distant past, in the form of rivers, lakes, and even oceans. Despite decades of research, one of the biggest mysteries in Mars’ history remains unsolved: what happened to all that water?

16/06/2025

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The images, captured by the Solar Orbiter mission and released this week, show the south pole of our star for the first time. The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) co-leads the mission’s largest scientific instrument (SO/PHI), which was key to this pioneering observation

First images of the Sun’s poles: a major milestone in solar exploration

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First images of the Sun’s poles: a major milestone in solar exploration

The Solar Orbiter mission, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), has captured the first-ever images of the Sun’s south pole, released this Wednesday and marking a milestone in solar exploration.

Until now, all known images of our star had been taken from the plane of the ecliptic—that is, from a perspective aligned with Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Thanks to Solar Orbiter—a space probe launched five years ago with the goal of offering an unprecedented view of the Sun—our star has now been observed for the first time from outside this plane.
12/06/2025

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The work is led by Enrique Pérez Montero, researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), who, after losing his sight in the course of his scientific career, studies the intricacies of the cosmos through sound The research focuses on the use of the infrared range to study active galaxy nucleus, considered among the most energetic objects in the universe.

Not all active galaxies are the same: infrared observations reveal two...

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Not all active galaxies are the same: infrared observations reveal two distinct families

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are areas at the centre of certain galaxies where a supermassive black hole releases an enormous amount of energy by sucking in the matter around it. These nuclei can influence the evolution of entire galaxies through their ability to drag in chemical elements and generate powerful winds that affect the galactic environment. In addition, these objects are localised and hidden behind dense dust clouds, which makes it difficult to study them directly.
09/06/2025

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Given by Dr. Anna Guseva, from Observatoire de Paris (Meudon), SO visitor at IAA from 04/06 to 04/07, and Dr. Giovanni Mirouh, former postdoc in IAA at Low-Mass Stars and Exoplanet Research Group and actually in Departamento de física teórica y del cosmos de la Universidad de Granada (UGR).

SO IAA course: Dynamo Theory in Astrophysics

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SO IAA course: Dynamo Theory in Astrophysics

Magnetic fields are ubiquitous in the Universe, including the geomagnetic field, the systematic magnetic field responsible for the eleven year solar activity cycle, and the magnetic fields of planets, stars, galaxies and accretion disks. It is now generally accepted that these fields are created by the action of hydromagnetic dynamos; i.e. by the motions of conductive fluids or plasmas that sustain the field against the action of Ohmic dissipation. For all these objects there is no ab initio predictive theory for the origin of their magnetic fields.
Granada
16/06/2025 to 18/06/2025

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The contract is part of the National Space Surveillance and Tracking Programme (S3T) and the European Space Situational Awareness Programme (SSA) of the European Space Agency (ESA) The project aims to design a cooperative system to optimise astronomical observation for space surveillance and monitoring

The IAA-CSIC and the UMA sign a contract with the European Space Agency to...

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The IAA-CSIC and the UMA sign a contract with the European Space Agency to improve Spanish space surveillance

Spain, anticipating the need for a European system for the surveillance and tracking of objects in space, instigated the creation of the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2009. This was the first ESA programme led by Spain, setting a milestone in national involvement in the European space field.
06/06/2025

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The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) participated in the discovery through key observations with the 1.5-meter telescope at the Sierra Nevada Observatory (OSN), which confirmed the existence of the giant planet The finding contradicts current theories on the formation of giant planets and opens a promising path for future research

Discovery of a giant planet around a tiny star challenges theories of...

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Discovery of a giant planet around a tiny star challenges theories of planet formation

Planets are born from the material surrounding young stars, in what is known as a protoplanetary disk. If the dust and gas in this disk clump together and accumulate enough mass, they can give rise to giant planets. However, this process heavily depends on the star’s mass: the smaller the star, the less material is available to form large planets.
04/06/2025

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The study, which reports the first detection of X-ray emission from a long-period radio transient, involves the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) The finding, made possible by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope, may shed new light on the origin of similar mysterious signals observed elsewhere in the sky

Mysterious cosmic object detected emitting radio and X-ray signals...

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Mysterious cosmic object detected emitting radio and X-ray signals synchronously

A lightshouse in space that lights up for two minutes —with an intensity that challenges our understanding— and then remains dark for more than forty, repeating this pattern again and again, offers a fitting metaphor for the behavior of long-period radio transients (LPTs). These recently discovered astronomical sources, whose nature remains elusive, emit brief pulses of radio waves at regular intervals lasting minutes or even hours.
28/05/2025

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The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) co-leads a study exploring the connection between the presence of a planet around a star and the star’s properties The study, focused on intermediate-mass stars, has revealed particularly significant results compared to what is already known about low-mass stars

New clues on how planet formation can mask the real properties of their...

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New clues on how planet formation can mask the real properties of their star

According to the latest data from NASA’s Exoplanet Archive, over 5,800 exoplanets have been confirmed to date. Of these, only about 5% orbit stars with intermediate solar masses—that is, between 1.5 and 2.5 times the mass of the Sun. This low proportion may be largely due to the challenges involved in detecting planets around this type of star.
21/05/2025

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Data from three instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope offer fresh insights into Titan’s atmosphere and chemistry—among the most complex and stable in the solar system One of the study’s key findings, involving participation from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), is the first direct detection of the methyl radical (CH₃) in Titan’s atmosphere, confirming major predictions about the moon’s rich organic chemistry

New findings on Titan reinforce its astrobiological interest: active...

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New findings on Titan reinforce its astrobiological interest: active chemistry, clouds and methane rain

Like Earth, Titan—Saturn’s largest moon—has a nitrogen-rich atmosphere and weather systems that include clouds and rain. But unlike our planet, where water drives the climate, Titan’s cryogenic environment revolves around methane: it evaporates, forms clouds, falls as rain, and fills lakes and seas on the surface. This methane cycle, along with a complex web of organic chemistry, has been the subject of new discoveries that shed light on Titan’s fascinating atmosphere.

14/05/2025

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The research, headed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), solves a longstanding mystery about the particles responsible for X-ray emission in blazars IXPE, the joint mission of NASA and the Italian Space Agency, along with the Sierra Nevada Observatory, played a key role in obtaining the data that enabled identification of the mechanism behind this extreme phenomenon

A study led by the IAA-CSIC reveals the origin of X-ray emission in jets...

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A study led by the IAA-CSIC reveals the origin of X-ray emission in jets from supermassive black holes

When the relativistic jet of an active galaxy is pointed directly at Earth, we witness one of the most extreme phenomena in the universe. This is the case with blazars: active galactic nuclei (AGN) powered by supermassive black holes that eject jets of matter at near-light speeds. In such cases, one of the jets is almost perfectly aligned with our line of sight. This orientation enhances the object’s brightness—due to the relativistic Doppler effect—and causes rapid and intense variations across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays.
06/05/2025

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A meeting devoted to the shaping effects of stellar outflows from evolved stars in the formation of asymmetrical post-main-sequence nebulae including planetary nebulae, nebulae around massive stars, nova remnants, symbiotic stars, ...

Asymmetrical Post-main-sequence Nebulae 9

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Asymmetrical Post-main-sequence Nebulae 9

A meeting devoted to the shaping effects of stellar outflows from evolved stars in the formation of asymmetrical post-main-sequence nebulae including planetary nebulae, nebulae around massive stars, nova remnants, symbiotic stars, ... 1.- Puzzling evolved star nebulae that challenge our present knowledge: morphology, kinematics, chemistry, time-scales, exotic central stars, ...
Granada
22/09/2025 to 26/09/2025

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Two studies co-led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) have examined the center of our galaxy with unprecedented detail, thanks to observations from the James Webb Space Telescope The findings could help clarify why star formation in one of the innermost regions of the Milky Way is surprisingly low despite having conditions that should favor this process

The James Webb Telescope reveals how stars form in one of the most extreme...

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The James Webb Telescope reveals how stars form in one of the most extreme regions of our galaxy

The centre of our galaxy is an extreme environment where intense cosmic phenomena transform space and matter. In one region of the galactic centre, located about 200 light-years from Sagittarius A* - the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way - there is a huge, dense cloud of interstellar gas and dust. Over millions of years, this cloud has collapsed in on itself, leading to the formation of thousands of new stars. This region is known as Sagittarius C.
03/04/2025

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Deep learning (DL) is a family of techniques widely used in multiple fields with excellent results. Unfortunately, DL has a steep learning curve. Fortunately, several domain-specific libraries have been developed to facilitate the use of DL models.

SO Basics of Neural Networks 2025

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SO Basics of Neural Networks 2025

Deep learning (DL) is a family of techniques widely used in multiple fields with excellent results. Unfortunately, DL has a steep learning curve. Fortunately, several domain-specific libraries have been developed to facilitate the use of DL models. For the widespread adoption of these techniques, researchers should be able to design and use their own DL models. Image classification is one of the main applications of DL in astrophysics and offers a convenient way to learn about neural networks.
Granada
16/10/2025 to 17/10/2025

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A study co-led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) reveals deviations from established models of the jets formed in supermassive black holes The finding is based on observations from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), whose high resolution has allowed for an unprecedented analysis of jets at close distances from supermassive black holes in the active cores of certain galaxies

Acceleration in supermassive black hole jets that defies theoretical...

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Acceleration in supermassive black hole jets that defies theoretical predictions discovered

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are regions at the center of some galaxies where a supermassive black hole emits an enormous amount of energy as it feeds on surrounding matter. For decades, the study of AGN has been key to understanding the extreme physical processes occurring near these black holes, including the jets—powerful streams of matter and energy—that they launch into space.

24/03/2025

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The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), together with the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA) in Heidelberg, Germany, has developed PANIC, a wide-field infrared camera for the 2.2-meter telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory in Almería, Spain PANIC, which operates in the near-infrared wavelength range, will be capable of studying star clusters, galaxies, nebulae, stars, exoplanets, and even the smallest bodies in our Solar System

PANIC, the first 4K infrared camera to explore the European sky

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PANIC, the first 4K infrared camera to explore the European sky

The human eye can perceive only a small fraction of the light in the universe, the visible spectrum, which spans wavelengths between 0.4 and 0.7 micrometers (billionths of a meter). By using detectors sensitive to light in the 0.8 to 2.5 micrometer range, we can access regions of the universe obscured by cosmic dust grains. Thanks to the development of PANIC (PAnoramic Near-Infrared Camera for Calar Alto), the first wide-field infrared camera for European telescopes, this is now possible.
20/03/2025

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Black holes are among the most fascinating objects in the universe. From cosmological scales, galactic and stellar scales where black holes are integral pieces in the formation and evolution of different structures, to microscopic scales in which the study of the fabric of spacetime and black hole interiors are interrelated, black holes are ubiquitous in all research areas in which gravity is a prominent actor.

Tales of Black Holes

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International Summer School on Advanced Black Hole Physics 'Tales of Black Holes'

Black holes are among the most fascinating objects in the universe. From cosmological scales, galactic and stellar scales where black holes are integral pieces in the formation and evolution of different structures, to microscopic scales in which the study of the fabric of spacetime and black hole interiors are interrelated, black holes are ubiquitous in all research areas in which gravity is a prominent actor.
Granada
23/06/2025 to 27/06/2025

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The Academic Spanish course for foreigners is designed to facilitate effective communication in academic and profesional contexts. Through a practical and personalized focus, the participants will develop essential linguistic abilities to discuss scientific articles, participate in conferences, give presentations, and collaborate in international projects. The program includes technical vocabulary, beginner and advanced grammar, and simulations of real-life situations. Moreover, it will promote the cultural immersion to strengthen the comprehension of the Hispanic world, and their impact on interdisciplinary investigation and collaboration.

Academic Spanish Course for Foreigners (2025)

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Academic Spanish Course for Foreigners (2025)

The Academic Spanish course for foreigners is designed to facilitate effective communication in academic and profesional contexts. Through a practical and personalized focus, the participants will develop essential linguistic abilities to discuss scientific articles, participate in conferences, give presentations, and collaborate in international projects. The program includes technical vocabulary, beginner and advanced grammar, and simulations of real-life situations.
Granada
21/01/2025 to 30/10/2025

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The Hispanic Astronomical Center in Andalusia (CAHA), the Spanish Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), and the University of Córdoba (UCO) have signed an action protocol to develop educational and scientific-technological activities in the field of astronomy. Calar Alto has already signed four collaboration agreements with Andalusian public universities.

Calar Alto, CSIC, and the University of Córdoba agree to collaborate in...

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Calar Alto, CSIC, and the University of Córdoba agree to collaborate in the field of astronomy

The University of Córdoba (UCO), the state agency CSIC - through the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, IAA-CSIC, in Granada - and the Hispanic Astronomical Center in Andalusia (CAHA) of Calar Alto have signed a general action protocol to promote a common plan of academic, scientific-technical and social activities. The aim is to promote the dissemination and development of Astronomy and related fields. Calar Alto observatory thus confirms its commitment with the dissemination of Astronomy and Astrophysics in the academic community and Andalusian society.
04/03/2024

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The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration has published new results that describe for the first time how light from the edge of the supermassive black hole M87* spirals as it escapes the black hole’s intense gravity, a signature known as circular polarization

A supermassive black hole’s strong magnetic fields are revealed in a new...

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A supermassive black hole’s strong magnetic fields are revealed in a new light

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration has published new results that describe for the first time how light from the edge of the supermassive black hole M87* spirals as it escapes the black hole’s intense gravity, a signature known as circular polarization. The way light’s electric field prefers to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise as it travels carries information about the magnetic field and types of high-energy particles around the black hole.
08/11/2023

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Omaira Gonzalez Martin has received the award "Distinción de la UNAM para...

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Omaira Gonzalez Martin has received the award "Distinción de la UNAM para Jóvenes Académicos" 2021

15/11/2021

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Juan de Dalmau, president of the International Space University and former director of Ariane rocket launch operations in French Guiana, will answer frequently asked questions about space exploration.

What have we missed in extraterrestrial space?

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What have we missed in extraterrestrial space?

Humans have always looked to space with curiosity, fascination and sometimes fear. Many of us have thought about whether or not we would dare to take a trip outside the atmosphere, and we may even think that before spending so much money on sending astronauts, there are other problems to solve here on Earth.

Juan de Dalmau, president of the International Space University and former director of Ariane rocket launch operations in French Guiana, has also asked himself these questions and will try to give some answers to questions such as:

Juan de Dalmau
24/06/2021 - 19:30

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The volume includes 77 short articles on current research topics about the Sun, written in a plain language by scientists from 30 European research institutions and universities.

#TheScienceOfEST series is now available as a book!

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#TheScienceOfEST series is now available as a book!

#TheScienceOfEST series is now available as a book!

The volume includes 77 short articles on current research topics about the Sun, written in a plain language by scientists from 30 European research institutions and universities.
15/06/2020

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The mirror of the SUNRISE mission gets ready at Calar Alto

The mirror of the SUNRISE mission gets ready at Calar Alto

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The mirror of the SUNRISE mission, which will study the Sun from a stratospheric balloon, gets ready at Calar Alto

SUNRISE, a mission designed to study the Sun’s magnetic field from a stratospheric balloon, faces its third flight after its successful trips flying over the Arctic in 2009 and 2013. The instrumentation was recovered in both occasions, and now the mission team focuses on the preparation of the next phase, which will take place in 2021. In late September, the aluminizing of the SUNRISE telescope mirror took place at Calar Alto, a service offered by the observatory that permits to preserve the optimal conditions for observations.
06/10/2019

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Annual activity reports

Annual activity reports

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Annual activity reports

2023 annual activity report released !
Seminars, meetings, outreach conferences and training sessions.

Conferences and events calendar
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Conferences and events calendar

Check out the list of events and conferences.

Seminars

Conferences, workshops and schools

Lucas Lara outreach conferences

Manuel Félix Herrera training sessions

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Proceso de presentación de candidaturas a la dirección del IAA
(01 - 30 Abril 2025)

La junta de instituto del IAA (CSIC) aprobó en su reunión de 28 de marzo de 2025 la apertura del proceso de presentación de candidaturas a Director del IAA con fecha 1 de abril de 2025. El plazo se extiende durante un mes, del 1 de abril al 30 de abril. El gerente del IAA, como secretario de la Junta acusará recibo de las candidaturas que se presenten formalmente.

Más detalles del procedimiento de selección de director en la siguiente página

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