During the month of December, the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) officially started a new research project approved by the State Research Agency (AEI) within the call “Strategy projects oriented to ecologic transition”, in order to measure soil moisture using drones.

Two Earth-mass planets orbiting a red dwarf—the star called GJ 1002—, have been found recently by an international team of astronomers. The study is led by researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and has the participation of members of the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC  — Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya) and the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC).

At the beginning of the year, the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZFT) of the Palomar Observatory in California (USA) detected an extraordinary flash in a part of the sky where no such light had been observed the night before. With an intensity equivalent to a 1,000 trillion suns, this phenomenon was studied by different scientific groups.

The European Space Agency (ESA) Council recently approved that Euclid and Hera space missions, in which the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) participate, will be launched with SpaceX Falcon9 vehicles in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

The third scientific conference dedicated to the Athena X-ray Observatory "Exploring the Hot and Energetic Universe" organised by the Athena Science Study Team and the Athena Community Office will be held from 7th to 10th November 2022 at CosmoCaixa museum in Barcelona in a hybrid format.

The Science Program Committee of the European Space Agency (ESA) officially approved the selection of ARRAKIHS, the first mission of the ESA Science Program led by Spain, in particular, by the Physics Institute of Cantabria (IFCA), a joint centre of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the University of Cantabria (UC), aiming at being launched in 2030.

When a star explodes (a supernova), it sends its intense burst of light out in all directions. On rare occasions, rings of light or ‘light echoes’ spread out from the original supernova position, in the months and years that follow, as described in a recently published article at the Astrophysical Journal Letters journal.

En el marco de la Semana de la Ciencia y la Tecnología, el Instituto de Ciencias del Espacio (ICE-CSIC) celebra su primera observación astronómica abierta al público general en el campus de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), en Plaça Cívica, el 17 de noviembre a las 18 h.

El martes 25 de octubre de 2022 se podrá observar un eclipse parcial de Sol de muy baja magnitud, que será visible en gran parte de Europa, el noroeste de África y Asia occidental. En España será visible desde el noreste del país.

El pasado 18 de enero de 2021 cayó en Galicia el meteorito Traspena, a unos 20 km de la ciudad de Lugo, poco después de que una enorme bola de fuego, catalogada como SPMN180121, atravesara el cielo y que la onda de choque producida por su entrada a hipervelocidad y rotura en la atmósfera fuese escuchada por cientos de personas. Se trata de la primera caída de un meteorito recuperada en esta comunidad autónoma.

MOSAiC, the largest polar expedition in history, and the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) have been awarded the Arctic Circle Prize 2022 for their contribution to polar research, which seeks to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for the Arctic. The Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), among other international research centers, participated in MOSAiC between 2019 and 2020.

L’Institut de Ciències de l´Espai (ICE-CSIC) comença una col·laboració amb l´Agrupació Astronòmica de Barcelona (ASTER), a través d’unes xerrades divulgatives a càrrec de diversos investigadors i investigadores de l’institut sobre diferents temes: el GPS i el seu ús en la monitorització del clima des de l'espai, les supernoves, els exoplanetes o com mesurar distàncies a l'Univers.

NASA’s and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was launched on November 24, 2021. DART will impact its target, the asteroid Dimorphos, on September 27 at 1:14 am CET, slightly changing its orbit. This is the first planetary defense mission designed to change the course of an asteroid. Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez participates in DART’s scientific team.

La setmana que ve se celebra la Nit de la Recerca, una jornada en què tenen lloc diferents activitats, tallers i xerrades de divulgació científica amb l'objectiu d'apropar la investigació a tots els públics.

Des de l'Institut de Ciències de l'Espai (ICE-CSIC) participarem a diferents activitats programades al llarg de la setmana.

La Delegació del CSIC a Catalunya va inaugurar aquest estiu l'exposició Objectes de la recerca a la seu de Barcelona, ​​amb l'objectiu de mostrar la recerca que es duu a terme als diferents centres del CSIC a través d'objectes excepcionals.

A new study by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) makes it possible to represent a pulsars population using graph theory, a technique that had not been applied in this field yet. Researchers from the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) present a new approach to study pulsars – neutron stars with high speed of rotation that emit periodic radiation of radio and gamma rays.

Desde ayer lunes y hasta hoy, la presidenta del CSIC Eloísa del Pino ha visitado varios centros del CSIC en Cataluña, en los que se ha reunido con los equipos directivos y con el personal para debatir sobre las necesidades y los retos inmediatos de cada centro.  La han acompañado el vicepresidente de Organización y Relaciones Institucionales, Carlos Closa, y el Delegado Institucional del CSIC en Cataluña, Luis Calvo.

Des de la Delegació del CSIC a Catalunya, en el marc de l'activitat "Objectes de recerca", s'organitza un concurs de Twitter amb el propòsit de dinamitzar el contingut científic d'aquesta activitat a través de les xarxes socials.

Cada objecte exposat comptarà amb el seu propi concurs de fils de Twitter. En l'annex situat al final d'aquestes bases estaran tots els detalls del concurs que es trobi actiu.

Last week, from July 4th to July 15th, the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) held the fifth edition of the Summer School. Every year, our centre organises a Summer School for Master and PhD students over the summer, usually during the month of July.

Students from everywhere have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge, network with researchers and use the experience acquired for their thesis, PhD or post-doc research in the future.

The MELISA project was the winning proposal of an IEEC internal competitive call that sought collaboration between the different Research Units of the Institute while stimulating the achievement of innovative project.

MELISA seeks to develop and manufacture a prototype of a compact, low-power magnetic sensor that implements magnetic field modulation using microelectromechanical resonators (MEMS).

¿Cómo se produce la energía del Sol? ¿Qué ocurre tras la explosión de una supernova? ¿Qué son los púlsares y por qué resultan tan útiles para orientarse en el espacio? ¿Cuándo resolveremos el misterio de la materia oscura? Estas y otras muchas preguntas sobre el cosmos dan vida a Púlsares, un cuento de relojes cósmicos, un cortometraje que combina actores reales con personajes de animación para acercar el conocimiento científico sobre el universo al público juvenil.

L’objecte que inaugura l’exposició és el meteorit Sikhote-Alin, caigut a Rússia fa 75 anys. El meteorit, actualment a l'Institut de Ciències de l'Espai (ICE-CSIC), estarà exposat des d'avui, Dia internacional de l'asteroide, fins al 2 de setembre i es podrà visitar a la seu del CSIC a Catalunya.

This week, researchers from the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) and the Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC) will participate at the European Astronomical Society Annual Meeting 2022 in Valencia, Spain. The EAS Meeting has more than 25 years of tradition and it has imposed itself as the largest conference for European astronomy.

Thanks to the data carefully obtained with a suite of instruments and space telescopes, a team of astronomers has been able to model the interior and to estimate the relative sizes of the (metallic) core and (rocky) mantle of the exoplanet Gliese 486 b, discovered in 2021.The analysis, published by the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, is so detailed that has allowed investigating things not seen before.

INTEGRAL (The International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory) is the second medium-sized mission of ESA's Horizon 2000 Science Programme. INTEGRAL was launched from Baikonour/Kazachstan in 2002 and is dedicated to the fine spectroscopy and fine imaging of celestial gamma-ray sources.

La Red de Investigación Bólidos y Meteoritos (SPMN), coordinada por el Instituto de Ciencias del Espacio (ICE-CSIC), registró el superbólido SPMN230522 explotando sobre Cataluña, la madrugada del lunes 23 de mayo a las 2h 42m (hora local).

El investigador Josep María Trigo-Rodríguez reconstruyó la trayectoria del superbólido en base a las estaciones más cercanas a la red SPMN.

The European Space Agency (ESA) aims to fly the first space-based observatory dedicated to the study of gravitational waves: the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission. Last December, LISA left behind Phase A (first stage in the mission lifecycle), in which its feasibility was assessed and the first designs and technologies began to be developed.

An international team of astronomers have resolved the decade-long solar abundance crisis: the conflict between the internal structure of the Sun as derived from the analysis of solar oscillations (helioseismology) and the structure derived from the fundamental theory of stellar evolution, which in turn relies on measurements of the present-day Sun's chemical composition.

Aquest congrés tecnològic reuneix alumnes i empreses a l'Escola d'Enginyeria de la UAB el dia 21 d'abril del 2022. L'alumnat podrà assistir a més de 15 conferències, workshops i entrevistes, i passejar-se pels més de 40 estands per conèixer les diferents empreses i centres de recerca que hi participen.

The 5th Institute of Space Sciences Summer School will take place in Barcelona, from July 4 until July 15, 2022. The theme this year is Modified gravities, Inflation and Primordial Perturbations: theory and computing.

Using the largest radio telescope on Earth, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST, in China), an international team has discovered radio pulsations from the system LS I 61 303. This is the first evidence for pulsations from this source at any frequency, and proves the existence of a rotating neutron star in this system.

Using the network of KMTnet telescopes (Korea Microlensing Telescope Network) in Chile, South Africa and Australia, an international team led by researchers at the University of Toronto has observed a type Ia supernova since its inception.

Hundreds of international researchers are currently analyzing observations from the one-year Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition.

To commemorate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) will foster an online event called #HowItAllStarted will feature short talks by our researchers Vanessa Graber, Estel Cardellach, Alice Borghese, Clara Dehman and Simranpreet Kaur.

En la investigación se han utilizado datos del Observatorio de Calar Alto (CAHA) que muestran variabilidades en la nebulosa planetaria IC4997. Además de Luis F. Miranda (IAA-CSIC), en el estudio han participado José María Torrelles (ICE-CSIC e IEEC) i Jorge Lillo-Box (CAB/INTA-CSIC).

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has capped off the first seven months of its survey run by smashing through all previous records for three-dimensional galaxy surveys, creating the largest and most detailed map of the universe ever.