The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is a world-renowned astronomical research institute located in the Canary Islands, Spain. Founded in 1984, the IAC has played a leading role in international astronomy, carrying out cutting-edge research into a wide range of topics including cosmology, solar physics, and stellar astrophysics. The institute is also home to one of the largest optical/infrared telescopes in the world, the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC).
The IAC was founded with the aim of establishing an astronomical observatory in the Canary Islands – an ideal location for observing the night sky due to its high altitude and low level of light pollution. Since its inception, the institute has gone from strength to strength, attracting some of the world’s leading astronomers to work at its facilities. The IAC’s headquarters are located on the island of Tenerife at the Teide Observatory, which is operated jointly with the University of La Laguna.
The GTC is one of the key research assets of the IAC. It is a 10m-class telescope that began operations in 2009 and has been used for a wide variety of science programs ranging from exoplanet studies to deep surveys of galaxies near and far away. The GTC is also equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation such as CIRCE – a near-infrared spectrograph that was used to discover two new giant planets orbiting nearby stars. In addition to conducting cutting-edge science, the GTC also plays an important role in public outreach and education – hosting regular open days where members of the public can come and learn about astronomy firsthand from IAC scientists.
The IAC has been at