The President of the Cabildo of La Palma, Sergio Rodríguez inaugurated this morning the International Conference LSST@Europe 6 which has brought together over 140 people from over twenty countries in the field of astrophysical research. In the oficial inauguration there was also participation by the Director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Valentín Martínez Pillet, the director of the LSST constructive project Zeljko Ivezic and the president of the international organizing committee Mireia Montes Quiles. Sergio Rodríguez noted the importance of this type of scientific

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has again shown its high quality in the field of international research. Two of its Research Professors, Carme Gallart and Enric Pallé, have been selected by the European Research Council (ERC) to receive ERC Advanced Grant s , the most prestigious and competitive grants of the Horizon Europe programme. This call for proposals is aimed at researchers who are leaders in their fields, with consolidated records and highly innovative proposals. Each grant can reach up to 2.5 million euros over five years, with additional funding for specific needs

A study published today in Nature Astronomy , in which a researcher from the IAC has participated, outlines the discovery of an extremely rare type of binary system composed of two high mass white dwarfs. The two stars are so close together that they will eventually collide resulting in a supernova explosion which, due to its proximity to the Earth, will appear ten times brighter than the Moon. Type 1a supernovae are a class of cosmic explosion often used as "standard candles" to measure the expansion of the Universe. They occur when a white dwarf exceeds the Chandrasekhar mass - the limit