ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defense performed a flyby of Mars, as part of its gravitational assistance manoeuvre to shorten its journey to the binary asteroid system Didymos. During the flyby, the spacecraft came around 5000 km from the surface of Mars, having also the opportunity to obtain images of its two moons, Deimos (during the approach) and Phobos (when departing Mars). Julia de León, Javier Licandro, and George Prodan, researchers at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, participate in this mission, successfully launched from Cape Cañaveral, Florida (USA) on October 7, 2024

This is the third “mini-Moon” with lunar-like material identified as part of the Arjuna asteroid belt, where objects follow similar orbits around the Sun to that of the Earth-Moon system. IAC, February 6, 2025. – Near-Earth asteroid 2024 PT5 orbits around the Sun following a trajectory very similar to that of the Earth-Moon system, and during two months of 2024, it accompained our Earth on its journey. This asteroid has material on its surface that was originated in the Moon, as it has been proved by a research led by the Insituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Universidad

The project “ Habla con Ellas: Mujeres en Astronomía” (Talk to Them: Women in Astronomy) of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) begins today its seventh edition in Spain as part of the celebrations of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Aimed at the Spanish educational community, it seeks to create new professional role models in science and technology, as well as to inspire new generations, especially girls, to follow in their footsteps. In this edition, the project will feature 36 female astrophysicists, engineers and technologists from the IAC, the Canary