In exactly one year, on 12 August 2026, Catalonia will witness a total solar eclipse, an exceptional astronomical event not seen in the country for more than a century. The path of totality will cross the south of Catalonia, offering a unique scientific, educational, and social opportunity for the region. This year, 12 August 2025 will be an ideal date to check whether your chosen observation spot provides a clear, unobstructed view of the sunset.

The scope of this event has led to the creation of the Interdepartmental Commission on the Eclipse, within the framework of the CIRI (Interdepartmental Commission for Research and Innovation), chaired by the President of the Government of Catalonia, Salvador Illa. This commission, headed by the Minister for Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat, brings together thirteen government departments and has the scientific and technical support of the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC — Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya)  and other leading centres in astronomical research and space observation. Its aim is to coordinate the actions of the various departments and ensure a joint, well-planned, and ambitious response to an event that goes beyond the scientific sphere to become a true national project.

Since its formation in May 2025, the commission has activated a wide range of key measures covering territorial planning, mobility, safety, public health, education, tourism, and scientific outreach. Notable initiatives include the development of a visibility map for the eclipse, the identification of safe and accessible observation areas, and the upcoming rollout of educational and public awareness programmes across the country. The aim is to ensure a safe, inclusive, and enriching experience for everyone.

Among the significant actions taken so far, the Department of Research and Universities has held coordination meetings with the National Eclipse Commission, with the goal of aligning territorial strategies with state guidelines and ensuring efficient event management. A first series of meetings has also been held with major Catalan astronomy associations, with the aim of integrating their expertise and local presence into outreach and citizen engagement efforts. These organisations will be key players in spreading knowledge about the eclipse throughout the country and enabling a shared, safe, and informed experience of the event.

In the words of the Minister for Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat: “A total solar eclipse is a scientific and collective gift that only happens once every many generations. Our duty is to organise it well so that everyone can enjoy it safely, from any point in the territory. Coordinating an event like the eclipse means working side by side with many different stakeholders. The challenge is to ensure that all the pieces fit together so that the public can enjoy it with safety, quality, and the scientific guidance it deserves.” She adds: “We want Catalonia to experience something truly unique on 12 August 2026: with eyes turned to the sky, but also with feet firmly on the ground, always following the safe observation guidelines we are preparing.”

At the same time, technical teams are already working on producing a visibility map (a “shadow map”) that will identify areas of the territory where observation conditions will be optimal, without obstructions to the view of the Sun at the critical moment. This resource will be made available in the coming months as a reference tool for institutions, organisations, and the general public.

In addition to the technical and coordination measures, an official website is being developed to serve as the institutional reference point for the eclipse. This digital platform will gather all relevant information about the event: safe observation tips, educational and outreach resources, scheduled activities across the territory, as well as visibility maps and other useful tools for citizens, schools, local councils, and media outlets. The website will be launched in the coming months and will be regularly updated until the eclipse takes place.

Where will the eclipse be visible from?

One of the commission’s top priorities is the identification of safe and accessible locations from which to observe the eclipse. Since the phenomenon will occur in the evening—between 19:30 and 21:00, with the total phase expected around 20:30 depending on location—the Sun will be very close to the horizon. This factor may limit visibility depending on the terrain and the presence of natural or human-made obstacles.

To support local planning efforts, the Rural Agents Corps, under the Department of Interior and Public Safety,will carry out an initial round of site visits on 12 August to assess various potential observation points along the path of totality. These on-site inspections will help determine horizon visibility and assess accessibility and safety conditions. The findings will contribute to a preliminary inventory of optimal viewing locations and help guide environmental, logistical, and preventive measures.

That same day, 12 August 2025, is also a great opportunity for the public to conduct their own visibility check. From the location where you hope to watch the eclipse next year, simply observe whether the sunset can be seen without any obstructions. If it can, it is highly likely that this spot will also offer a good view of the astronomical phenomenon. This simple step is a great way to start preparing for the event safely and in advance.

“This Tuesday 12 August we have a very good excuse to go out and enjoy the sunset. If we manage to see it without obstruction from somewhere within the path of totality, we will have found a good spot for observing next year’s eclipse,” explains Ignasi Ribas, director of the IEEC and researcher at the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC). He adds: “Moreover, the next total solar eclipse visible from anywhere in Catalonia will be on 17 November 2180, so we must make the most of next year’s opportunity to see a total eclipse from our own land, without having to wait more than 150 years!”

A unique opportunity for knowledge and the country

Total solar eclipses are of great scientific interest and present an excellent opportunity to promote scientific culture. For this reason, the Government plans to roll out a coordinated outreach strategy with key research institutions such as the Ebre Observatory, the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB), and the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC). Furthermore, the event has the potential to act as a catalyst for regional development through astrotourism and the launch of new educational and community-based projects.

Catalonia is preparing to welcome the eclipse with a national outlook—grounded in science and education, but also in responsibility, sustainability, and social cohesion. On 12 August 2026, the sky will darken for a few moments. And the entire territory will be ready to look up.

An international team of scientists has announced groundbreaking observations of the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever recorded, GRB 221009A. The findings, published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, provide the strongest evidence yet for the existence of complex, structured jets in long-duration GRBs, cosmic explosions among the most powerful events in the Universe. 

The researchers are members of the CTAO LST Collaboration, a global scientific project dedicated to advancing very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. The Collaboration brings together experts from over 11 countries to design, build, and operate the Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), the next-generation facility for exploring the most extreme phenomena in the Universe.

GRB 221009A, dubbed the “BOAT” (Brightest Of All Time), was first detected on October 9, 2022, by space-based observatories including NASA’s Fermi and Swift satellites. The burst was so intense that it saturated detectors and triggered follow-up observations across the globe.

The LST-1 telescope, located at the CTAO’s northern site in La Palma, began observing the event just 1.33 days after the initial explosion—making it the earliest ground-based observations of very-high-energy gamma rays from this event by an imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope. These instruments detect gamma rays indirectly by capturing the brief flashes of light produced when these rays interact with the Earth’s atmosphere. Despite challenging conditions due to moonlight, the team was able to record an excess of gamma-ray events from GRB 221009A, making it a rare and valuable finding in this energy range.

A new window into Cosmic Jet physics

What makes this discovery particularly exciting is its contribution to our understanding of GRBs, how they operate and emit such colossal amounts of energy. The data from LST-1 support the theory that GRB 221009A was powered by a structured jet, a narrow, ultra-fast core surrounded by a slower, wider wing. This contrasts with the simpler “top-hat” jet models commonly used to describe GRBs.

“GRB 221009A provides strong evidence for a structured jet in long GRBs” said Arnau Aguasca-Cabot, predoctoral researcher at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) and the Institute of Spaces Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) and coordinator of the study. “its detection has significant implications for theoretical models of jets.”

The LST-1 observations also help distinguish between competing theoretical models. Some predicted much higher very-high-energy gamma-ray emission than was observed. The new data rule out those models, narrowing the field and guiding future research.

“Unique events like this GRB, which challenge theoretical models, may reveal insights into the unknown nature of the central engine powering this cosmic jet", said Pol Bordas, ICCUB-IEEC researcher and co-author of the study.

A Milestone for the CTAO and High-Energy Astrophysics

This campaign marks the most extensive GRB follow-up ever conducted by LST-1, spanning over 20 days. It also demonstrates the telescope’s ability to operate under moonlight conditions—an important step in increasing the observatory’s responsiveness to transient cosmic events.

“We conducted the first analysis under moonlight conditions, setting a key precedent for rapid follow-up of transient events when timely data collection is critical”, said Monica Seglar Arroyo, IFAE researcher and coordinator of the study. 

These results highlight the power of the CTAO’s next-generation telescopes to explore the high-energy Universe, since we’re entering a new era where we can probe the inner workings of cosmic explosions in unprecedented detail.

As the CTAO continues to expand, with more telescopes becoming operative in both hemispheres, scientists anticipate even more rapid and sensitive observations of GRBs and other extreme phenomena.

About the LST

The Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) are one of the three types of telescopes that the CTAO will use to cover its broad energy range, from 20 GeV to 300 TeV. When gamma rays interact with Earth’s atmosphere, they generate cascades of particles that produce Cherenkov light. Because lower-energy gamma rays create only small amounts of Cherenkov light, telescopes with large collection areas are needed to detect it. The LST, with its 23-meter diameter dish, will provide the CTAO’s unique sensitivity in the low-energy range between 20 and 150 GeV.

Despite standing 45 meters tall and weighing 100 tonnes, each LST can reposition to any point in the sky within 20 seconds. Both this rapid repositioning and the low-energy threshold of the LSTs are critical for the CTAO’s studies of galactic transients, high-redshift active galactic nuclei, and gamma-ray bursts.

The CTAO LST Collaboration, responsible for designing and building these telescopes, is making rapid progress on the CTAO-North site in La Palma, Spain. In 2018, the LST prototype, LST-1, was inaugurated and has been under commissioning since then. Currently, three additional LSTs are under construction and are expected to be complete by spring 2026.

About the CTAO

The CTAO (Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory; www.ctao.org) will be the world’s largest and most powerful observatory for gamma-ray astronomy. The CTAO’s unparalleled accuracy and broad energy range (20 GeV- 300 TeV) will help to address some of the most perplexing questions in astrophysics, falling under three major themes: understanding the origin and role of relativistic cosmic particles; probing extreme environments, such as black holes or neutron stars; and exploring frontiers in physics, searching for dark matter or deviations from Einstein’s theory of relativity. Additionally, the CTAO will play a key role in both multi-wavelength and multi-messenger fields in the coming decades thanks to its enhanced performance, which will allow it to provide fundamental gamma-ray information in the quest to probe the most extreme scenarios.

To cover its broad energy range, the CTAO will use three types of telescopes: the Large-Sized Telescopes (LST), the Medium-Sized Telescopes (MST) and the Small-Sized Telescopes (SST). More than 60 telescopes will be distributed between two telescope array sites: CTAO-North in the northern hemisphere at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias’ (IAC’s) Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma (Spain), and CTAO-South in the southern hemisphere at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert (Chile). The Headquarters of the CTAO is hosted by the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) in Bologna (Italy), and the  Data Management Centre (SDMC) Data Management Centre (SDMC) is hosted by the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY in Zeuthen (Germany).

The CTAO is a Big Data project. The Observatory will generate hundreds of petabytes (PB) of data in a year (~12 PB after compression). Based on its commitment to open science, the CTAO will be the first gamma-ray observatory of its kind to operate as an open, proposal-driven observatory providing public access to its high-level science data and software products.

In January 2025, the CTAO was established as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) by the European Commission. The Founding Members of the CTAO ERIC are Austria, the Czech Republic, the European Southern Observatory (ESO), France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, and Spain. Additionally, Japan is a Strategic Partner, and the accession of Switzerland and Croatia as Founding Members is being processed. 

The CTAO ERIC, commonly referred to as the CTAO Central Organisation, is in charge of the construction and operations of the Observatory. This group works in close cooperation with partners from around the world toward the development of the Observatory. Major partners include In-Kind Contribution Collaborations that are developing essential hardware and software, in addition to the  CTAO Consortium, an international group of researchers who works in the scientific exploitation of the Observatory.

Reference

K. Abe et al. (2025). GRB 221009A: Observations with LST-1 of CTAO and implications for structured jets in long gamma-ray bursts. The Astrophysical Journal Letters. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ade4cf

Media Contact:

Prof. Masahiro Teshima
LST Principle Investigator (PI)
mteshima@icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp
(English, Japanese)

LST Outreach Team
lst-outreach@cta-observatory.org
(English, Spanish, German and Croatian)

Dr. Alba Fernández-Barral
CTAO Outreach, Education and Communication Officer
alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org
+39-051-6357-270
(English, Spanish and Italian)
 

The Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) has received the prestigious María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence accreditation by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI), under the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
 

The recognition was officially presented last Wednesday during a ceremony held at the University of Zaragoza, which was attended by the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant; the Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, Pilar Alegría; the President of the Higher Council for Scientific Research, Eloísa del Pino; the Vice-Rector for Scientific Policy, Pilar Pina Iritia; the Vice-Rector for Innovation, Transfer and Continuing Education, Manuel Gonzalez Badía, both from the University of Zaragoza; and the Director of the State Research Agency, José Manuel Fernández de Labastida.
 

The accreditation includes a 2.25 million euro grant over four years, aimed at strengthening the institute’s strategic research programs and talent development.

Prof. Licia Verde, Scientific Director of ICCUB, accepted the award on behalf of the institute, underscoring the collective effort and dedication of the entire research team.
 

ICCUB is one of only eight research units across Spain to receive this distinction in 2024, which reinforces its role as a leading center for fundamental research and innovation in astrophysics, particle physics and cosmology, and supports its mission to advance knowledge and train the next generation of scientists.

“Severo Ochoa” Excellence Centres:

• Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE).
• Institut Català d’Investigació Química (ICIQ).
• Barcelona School of Economics (BSE).
• Instituto de Ciencias Fotónicas (ICFO).
• Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM-CSIC).
• Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO).
•  Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM-CSIC).
• Fundación Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC).
• Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD).
   

“María de Maeztu” Excellence Units:

• Departamento de Medicina y Ciencias de la Vida (MELIS), de la Universidad Pompeu Fabra.
• Institut de Ciencies del Cosmos (ICCUB), de la Universidad de Barcelona.
• Institut de Ciencia i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.
• Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), de la Universidad de Barcelona.
• Centro de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela.
• Instituto de Ciencia Molecular (ICMOL), de la Universidad de Valencia.
• Instituto Universitario de Investigación de Matemáticas (IMUS), de la Universidad de Sevilla.
• Fundación IMDEA Software.

Key Figures from the 2024 Call:
 

• 17 institutions accredited: 9 Severo Ochoa Centers and 8 María de Maeztu Units
• 60% success rate for Severo Ochoa applications, 15% for María de Maeztu
• 35% of scientific directors and 32% of principal investigators are women
• Accredited institutions hold 88 National Research Awards, 20 active ATRAEs, and 40% of all ERC grants in Spain
• Catalonia leads in number of accredited institutions, followed by Madrid and Andalusia

For more information, visit the AEI website.

Since the announcement on July 1, 2025, of the discovery of a new interstellar object—the third of its kind known to date—astronomers from Michigan State University (MSU), along with an international team of researchers including Toni Santana-Ros from the Institute of Applied Physics to Science and Technology at the University of Alicante (UA) and the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB), have focused their efforts on collecting data about this exotic body.

The team has now published the first scientific article on what is currently known about the object named 3I/ATLAS, in honor of the telescope network that discovered it: NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). ATLAS consists of four telescopes—two in Hawaii, one in Chile, and one in South Africa—that automatically scan the entire sky several times each night in search of moving objects.

According to Santana-Ros, “the object is far from Earth, at 3 astronomical units, which is about 500 million kilometers, and its trajectory poses no risk of impact with our planet.”

As noted in the article, experts confirm that 3I/ATLAS is only the third interstellar object detected passing through the solar system. It may emit gas like other comets, although this is yet to be confirmed. Among other data, they also report that it is moving at a staggering speed of 216,000 km/h relative to the Sun and follows a boomerang- or hyperbola-shaped orbital path, which will lead it to exit the solar system and never return.

Astronomers hope that the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope will reveal more information about its size, composition, rotation, and how it reacts to the increasing solar radiation it will receive in the coming months.

UA and ICCUB researcher and co-author of the article, who has been actively involved in tracking 3I/ATLAS, explains that “studying interstellar objects that come from outside our solar system is an opportunity to advance our understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve.”

In addition to MSU and UA, the research and article involve collaboration from the European Space Agency’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre (Italy), NASA/Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (USA), University of Hawaii (USA), Auburn University (USA), University of Barcelona (Spain), European Southern Observatory (Germany), Villanova University (USA), Lowell Observatory (USA), University of Maryland (USA), Las Cumbres Observatory (USA), University of Belgrade (Serbia), Polytechnic University of Milan (Italy), University of Michigan (USA), Western University (Canada), Georgia Institute of Technology (USA), Diego Portales University (Chile), and Boston University (USA).

Reference:
Darryl Z. Seligman et al., “Discovery and Preliminary Characterization of a Third Interstellar Object: 3I/ATLAS”, arXiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2507.02757

Source: Michigan State University / UA Communications Unit

Media Contact:
Toni Santana-Ros, researcher at the Institute of Applied Physics to Science and Technology at UA and ICCUB: antonio.santana@ua.es

The central event of the Maria Assumpció Català i Poch year, which commemorates the first female astronomy professor in the State, was held this Monday at the Montsec Astronomical Park with a round table that reflected on the state of women in the scientific sector. The event was organized by the Catalan Women's Institute, which promotes the commemoration; the University of Barcelona -where Català i Poch taught- and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC), which manages the Astronomical Park, located in Àger (La Noguera).

The event aimed to remember the figure of Català i Poch through a traveling exhibition that the ICD has prepared to coincide with the 100th anniversary of her birth. The exhibition will be available on free loan to associations, local bodies and other institutions, as it is included in the ICD's catalog of traveling exhibitions with a gender perspective, with 50 titles that make visible the contributions of women to history.

The president of the Catalan Women's Institute, Sònica Guerra López, gave the institutional welcome together with the president of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Carles Ruiz Novella, and the vice-rector of Culture, Memory and Heritage of the University of Barcelona, Agustí Alcoberro Pericay. The closing was given by the Minister of Equality and Feminism, Eva Menor Cantador.

During the event, hosted by journalist Mariví Chacón, three scientists from different generations debated the current situation of women in science: Nadejda Blagorodnova, professor at the Department of Quantum Physics and Astrophysics of the UB and member of the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB); Margarita Hernanz Carbó, professor at the Institute of Space Sciences of the CSIC, and Raquel Salvia Cos, member of the educational team of the Astronomical Park and master's student in Astrophysics.

Català i Poch's career was discussed by her nephew, Ramon Català i Pou; Francesca Figueras, professor at the Department of Quantum Physics and Astrophysics of the University of Barcelona and member of the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the UB (ICCUB), and Dr. Trinitat Cadefau Surroca, who was her student. The event ended with a guided tour by the director of the Astronomical Park, Salvador Ribas Rubio, of the telescope named after Maria Assumpció Català i Poch. It is the largest in the park and was named after the astronomer in 2016.

Català i Poch (Barcelona, 14 July 1925 - 3 July 2009) was the first woman to obtain a doctorate in Mathematics at the University of Barcelona (UB) in 1970 and worked as a professor of Mathematics and Astronomy at the UB. She carried out systematic observations of sunspots for more than thirty years and represented the State in the International Astronomical Union.

Year of Assumpció Català
 

As part of the milestones of the commemoration, the Park will also dedicate the Astronomy Festival to the astronomer, which this year reaches its 11th edition. In addition, the Catalan Women's Institute is preparing a publication on her career.

The centenary of the Catalan Assumption is part of the Government's commemorations for 2025, which annually agrees on the events and personalities that will be commemorated by the Generalitat de Catalunya. The objective is to highlight, recover and disseminate the memory of these events and personalities that have left their mark on the collective heritage of Catalans.

The telescope of the Montsec Astronomical Park
 

The largest telescope of the Montsec Astronomical Park, where this central event took place, has been named Assumpció Català since 2016, in homage to the astronomer who is a benchmark in research but also in scientific education. The Assumpció Català Poch telescope is a catadioptric telescope of Dall-Kirkham configuration with a diameter of 50 centimeters and is located in the Observatori-Aula, an area that combines observatory functions with a space equipped for 84 seated people to enjoy astronomical observation. This telescope is fully automated and contains the necessary equipment to obtain high-quality astronomical images.

Quotes

Minister for Equality and Feminism, Eva Menor Cantador

"The centenary of M. Assumpció Català is not just a commemoration: it is an act of reparation and of the future. It is an opportunity to look back with justice and look forward with responsibility. We must make her milestones visible, but we must also ensure that today's girls can write their own history, without the limits that she had to break."

President of the Catalan Women's Institute, Sònia Guerra Lopez

"At the Catalan Women's Institute we work to recover and make visible figures like Assumpció Català, a pioneering woman who history has silenced for too long. We claim her career not only as an act of justice, but as an essential pedagogical tool. Girls and young women need female role models to look up to, and Assumpció is light and inspiration for new scientific vocations."

President of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Carles Ruiz Novella

"The Montsec Astronomical Park is an extraordinary center for observing the sky, possibly the best observatory in the world, and where its most important telescope is named after Dr. Català Poch, the first female astronomy professor in the State who achieved a very important challenge for science and for women".

Vice-Rector for Culture, Memory and Heritage of the University of Barcelona, Agustí Alcoberro Pericay

"Institutions must preserve our history, but also our memory, that is, the memory of those who have helped us to be who we are. Assumpció Català was a great example of work, dedication and perseverance put at the service of an enormous talent. And now that we are in the midst of preparing for the 575th anniversary of the University of Barcelona, we will vindicate the enormous human capital of the UB, where Dr. Català plays a prominent role".

A team of international astronomers has announced the discovery of a rare celestial visitor from beyond our solar system: 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object ever detected. The discovery, made on July 1, 2025, by the ATLAS telescope in Chile, marks a major milestone in the study of cosmic bodies that originate outside our solar system.
 
3I/ATLAS joins the ranks of its famous predecessors, 1I/‘Oumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019), but brings its own unique characteristics. Unlike ‘Oumuamua, which had an unsual shape and no visible activity, and Borisov, which behaved like a typical comet, 3I/ATLAS appears to be a large, faintly active object with a reddish surface and a relatively stable brightness.
 
With an estimated diameter of up to 20 kilometers, 3I/ATLAS is significantly larger than the previous interstellar objects. It is traveling at a blistering speed of 60 kilometers per second, confirming its origin from outside the solar system. Its trajectory and composition are already providing scientists with valuable clues about the diversity of planetary systems beyond our own.
 
“3I/ATLAS represents the best opportunity we've had to study an object formed outside our Solar System. It's large (and therefore bright), active, and will be visible for the next few months, ensuring we have plenty of time for observation” said Toni Santana-Ros, researcher at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) and the University of Alicante (UA) and co-author of the study. “We're all excited about this opportunity, as it's expected to generate a wealth of data. Even medium-sized telescopes will have the chance to study this fascinating object!”   

 
Early observations suggest that 3I/ATLAS has a reddish hue similar to ‘Oumuamua and shows faint signs of comet-like activity. However, its light curve—how its brightness changes over time—is remarkably flat, indicating a more spherical or much lower spin than its predecessors.

The observations of 3I/ATLAS were carried out using the Joan Oró Telescope (TJO), located at the Montsec Observatory (OdM) in Catalonia. This facility, operated by the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), was instrumental in detecting and tracking the interstellar object, contributing crucial data to its discovery and characterization.
 
The object will be observable from Earth until September 2025, after which it will pass behind the Sun. It will reappear in November, offering astronomers another chance to study it before it leaves the solar system forever.
 
Scientists are calling on the global astronomy community to conduct further observations using telescopes and spacecraft, including those orbiting Mars, which 3I/ATLAS will pass near during its closest approach to the Sun.

Reference

Seligman, D. Z., Micheli, M., Farnocchia, D., et al. (2025). Discovery and Preliminary Characterization of a Third Interstellar Object: 3I/ATLAS. arXiv:2507.02757 [astro-ph.EP]. https://arxiv.org/html/2507.02757v1

Professor Joan Solà Peracaula, senior researcher at ICCUB, has been awarded the Universe Best Paper Award 2023 for his co-authored publication, “Running Vacuum in the Universe: Phenomenological Status in Light of the Latest Observations, and Its Impact on the σ₈ and H₀ Tensions.”

The award, granted annually by the journal Universe (MDPI), recognizes two outstanding papers—one research article and one review—published during the last two years.

The award-winning paper, co-authored by Adrià Gómez-Valent (ICCUB), Javier de Cruz Pérez (U. of Córdoba), and Cristian Moreno-Pulido (U. of Girona)—all former PhD students of Professor Joan Solà at the University of Barcelona—explores a new idea in cosmology called the Running Vacuum Model (RVM). This model offers a fresh way to think about dark energy, the mysterious force believed to be driving the accelerated expansion of the universe.  It is based on quantum field theoretical calculations in curved spacetime. The team tested this model using a wide range of the latest astronomical data, including observations on distant supernovae, the distribution of galaxies, and the cosmic microwave radiation left over from the Big Bang. The winning papers have been selected from a pool of 467 publications, based on scientific merit, originality, clarity, and impact, including citations and downloads.

What makes the RVM special is that it treats dark energy not as something fixed (such as the “cosmological constant”), but as something dynamical that evolves with time.  In addition, it treats dark energy as quantum vacuum energy, a fundamental concept. This helps explain some puzzling differences in current measurements of how fast the universe is expanding and how structures like galaxies grow. The model even suggests a new way the universe might have rapidly expanded in its earliest moments (i.e. a new model of inflation)—without needing assumptions about exotic particles called “inflatons”.  The idea of dynamical dark energy is very fashionable nowadays after the latest observations of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). The RVM aligns with these observations and may provide a quantum field theoretical basis for them.

This award highlights the growing importance of RVM in helping scientists better understand the universe. The first comprehensive tests of the RVM suggesting the existence of dynamical dark energy were performed just 10 year ago (Astrophys.J.Lett. 811 (2015) L14).

As part of the recognition, the authors receive a 500CHF cash prize, a certificate, and a voucher to publish future research for free.
The full announcement by Universe can be viewed here, and the awarded paper is available here.

Reference

Solà Peracaula, J., Gómez-Valent, A., de Cruz Pérez, J., & Moreno-Pulido, C. (2023). Running Vacuum in the Universe: Phenomenological Status in Light of the Latest Observations, and Its Impact on the σ₈ and H₀ Tensions. Universe, 9(6), 262. https://doi.org/10.3390/universe9060262

The Solar Orbiter mission, a joint initiative between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, has captured the first detailed images of the Sun’s south pole — a region previously unexplored. These groundbreaking observations were possible thanks to the spacecraft’s inclined orbit and its advanced instrumentation, which allows scientists to study the different layers of the solar atmosphere and measure the magnetic field at the Sun’s surface.
The Sun has a highly dynamic magnetic field that follows a cycle of approximately 11 years. During this period, solar activity — such as sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections — increases and decreases. At the midpoint of the cycle, a fascinating phenomenon occurs: the reversal of the Sun’s magnetic field polarity. This means that the magnetic north pole becomes south, and vice versa.

This process is neither instantaneous nor uniform. It begins with a reorganization of the magnetic field at mid-latitudes and eventually affects the poles. That’s why observing the Sun’s poles is key to understanding how this reversal happens and how it influences the Sun’s behavior and space weather.
The images reveal a “messy” magnetic field at the south pole, with both positive and negative polarities present. This phenomenon is linked to the fact that the Sun is currently at the peak of its activity cycle, a phase during which the polarity of its magnetic field reverses.
“The new data provided by Solar Orbiter give us more insight into how the Sun’s magnetic field polarity reversal occurs, especially in regions for which we previously had no data. This is crucial for improving current models of the solar activity cycle and, consequently, for enhancing long-term predictions of solar storms,” explains Dr. Àngels Aran, researcher of the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (ICCUB-IEEC).
 

The ICCUB-IEEC has played a key role in this scientific milestone. A team led by Dr. José Maria Gómez-Cama, ICCUB-IEEC researcher and member of the Department of Electronic and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Barcelona (UB), was responsible for developing and implementing the Image Stabilization System (ISS) of the PHI (Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager) instrument. This system compensates for spacecraft motion to ensure high-quality imaging, such as the recent captures of the Sun’s south pole.

Additionally, the Heliospheric Physics and Space Weather group at ICCUB and the Department of Quantum Physics and Astrophysics has provided scientific support to the team behind the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) instrument, developing models to predict particle radiation levels during solar storms — a key factor for mission safety.
Launched in February 2020, Solar Orbiter aims to study the Sun up close and from unique perspectives, particularly its poles, to better understand its magnetic behavior and its influence on the interplanetary environment. In the coming years, the spacecraft’s orbital inclination will gradually increase thanks to gravity-assist maneuvers around Venus. This will allow for even more detailed imaging of the solar poles, opening a new chapter in our understanding of the solar cycle and space weather.
 

A new international report has taken a major step toward understanding how some of the heaviest particles in the Universe behave in extreme conditions, similar to those just after the Big Bang. The team published their results in Physics Reports.
 

Physicists from the Indian Institute of Technology Goa, the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB), and Texas A&M University have published a comprehensive review exploring how particles containing heavy quarks (known as charm and bottom hadrons) interact in a hot, dense environment called hadronic matter. This environment is created in the last stage of high-energy collisions of atomic nuclei, such as those at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC).

Recreating the Early Universe

When two atomic nuclei collide at near-light speeds, they generate temperatures over 100,000 times hotter than the center of the Sun. These collisions briefly produce a state of matter called the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a soup of fundamental particles that existed microseconds after the Big Bang. As this plasma cools, it transitions into hadronic matter, a phase made up of particles like protons, neutrons, as well as other baryons and mesons. 

The study focuses on what happens to heavy-flavor hadrons (particles containing charm or bottom quarks, such as D and B mesons) during this transition and in the hadronic phase expansion that follows.

Heavy Particles as Probes

Heavy quarks are like tiny sensors. Because they are so massive, they are produced right after the initial nuclear collision and move more slowly and interact differently with the surrounding matter. By studying how they scatter and diffuse, we can learn about the properties of the medium they travel through.

The researchers reviewed a wide range of theoretical models and experimental data to understand how heavy hadrons, like D and B mesons, interact with light particles in the hadronic phase. They also examined how these interactions affect observable quantities like particle flow and momentum loss.

Key Findings

“To really understand what we see in experiments, it’s crucial to look at how heavy particles move and interact also during the later stages of these nuclear collisions,” said Dr. Juan M. Torres-Rincon. “This phase, when the system has cooled down, still plays a sizable role in shaping how particles lose energy and flow together. We also need to address the microscopic and transport properties of these heavy systems right at the transition point to the quark-gluon plasma. That’s the only way we can reach the level of precision that today’s experiments and simulations demand.”

To better understand these findings, one can use a simple analogy: imagine dropping a heavy ball into a crowded swimming pool. Even after the biggest waves settle, the ball keeps drifting and bumping into people. In a similar way, the heavy particles created in nuclear collisions continue to interact with other particles around them, even after the hottest and most chaotic phase has passed. These ongoing interactions subtly change how the particles move, and studying these changes helps scientists better understand the conditions of the early universe. Ignoring this phase would mean missing an important part of the story.

The study highlights the importance of including hadronic interactions in simulations to accurately interpret data from RHIC and LHC experiments.

Looking Ahead

Understanding how heavy particles behave in hot matter is crucial for mapping the properties of the early universe and the fundamental forces that govern it. The findings also pave the way for future experiments at lower energies, such as those planned at the CERN SPS and the upcoming FAIR facility in Darmstadt (Germany).

This work brings us closer to a complete picture of how matter behaves under extreme conditions and to answering some of the biggest questions about the origin of our Universe.

A study led by Paolo Padoan, research professor at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences at the University of Barcelona and currently on leave at Dartmouth College (USA), is challenging long-held beliefs about the formation of planetary disks around young stars. The research, which was published on April 21st in Nature Astronomy, reveals that the environment plays a crucial role in determining the size and lifespan of these disks, which are the birthplaces of planets.

When a star forms, it is surrounded by a spinning disk of gas and dust. Over time, this material coalesces into planets. Traditionally, scientists believed that once a disk forms, it simply loses mass over time as it fuels the growing star and planets. However, Dr. Padoan's research introduces a new perspective, showing that young stars actually gain mass from their surroundings through a process known as Bondi-Hoyle accretion. This process helps "refuel" the disk, making it larger and longer lasting than previously thought.

"Stars are born in groups or clusters inside large gas clouds and can remain in that environment for a few million years after their birth," said Dr. Padoan, first author of the study. " After a star is formed, its gravity can capture more material from the parental gas cloud, not enough to change the star’s mass significantly, but more than enough to restructure its disk. To understand how much mass a star can attract with this Bondi-Hoyle accretion, and the disk spin and size induced by the new material, we needed to model and understand some fundamental properties of the chaotic motion of the interstellar gas, known as turbulence. "

The study demonstrates that Bondi-Hoyle accretion can supply not only the mass but also the angular momentum necessary to explain the observed sizes of protoplanetary disks. This revised understanding of disk formation and evolution alleviates several longstanding observational discrepancies and compels substantial revisions to current models of disk and planet formation.
The research also addresses several puzzles in star and planet formation, such as why more massive stars have larger disks, why some planetary systems are unexpectedly massive, and why some disks last longer than expected. By shifting the focus from the star itself to the wider environment, this research provides a fresh perspective on the cosmic recipe for star and planet formation.

Dr. Padoan's team used advanced computer simulations and analytical modelling to explain the size of protoplanetary disks measured by ALMA, the world's most powerful radio telescope. The combination of theoretical models and empirical data provided a robust framework for understanding the complex interactions between young stars and their environments.

"Comparing the observable data from simulations to the actual observations is essential in validating the simulations, " said Dr. Veli-Matti Pelkonen, ICCUB researcher and member of the team. "However, simulations allow us to go beyond the observables to the underlying density, velocity and magnetic field structures, as well as following them in time. In this study, using the simulation data, we were able to show that the Bondi-Hoyle accretion plays an important part of the late-stage star formation, increasing the lifespan and the mass reservoir of the protoplanetary disks. With the increase of the computing power of supercomputers, we will be able to model even more complex physical processes in the simulations, further increasing the fidelity of the simulations. Combined with the new, powerful telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope and ALMA doing unparalleled observations of newly forming stars, these advances will continue to increase our understanding of star formation."

The implications of this study extend beyond just the formation of stars and planets. Understanding the role of the environment in disk formation could also shed light on the conditions necessary for the formation of habitable planets. This could have profound implications for the search for life beyond our solar system.

Reference: Padoan, P., Pan, L., Pelkonen, VM. et al. The formation of protoplanetary disks through pre-main-sequence Bondi–Hoyle accretion. Nat Astron (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02529-3 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02529-3