Scientific Highlights

CTA Prototype LST-1 Detects Very High-Energy Emission from the Crab Pulsar

June 22, 2020

The first prototype of the Large Size Telescope (LST) of the Cherenkov Telescope Network (CTA), the LST-1, has detected the Crab Pulsar, the neutron star at the centre of the Crab Nebula. This observation certifies the proper functioning of this telescope, which is currently in the commissioning phase.

T2K Results Restrict Possible Values of Neutrino CP Phase

April 15, 2020

The T2K Collaboration has published in Nature new results showing the strongest constraint yet on the parameter that governs the breaking of the symmetry between matter and antimatter in neutrino oscillations.

GW190412: The merger of two black holes with unequal masses

April 12, 2020

The LIGO and Virgo Collaborations have observed gravitational waves produced by the inspiral and merger of two black holes. The signal, named GW190412, was produced by a coalescing BBH system with unequal masses, one component being more than 3 times heavier than the other one.

IFAE coordinates the FET-Open project AVaQus to develop new quantum computing technologies

April 1, 2020

IFAE leads the AVaQus project, which aims to radically upgrade current quantum annealing technology by engineering novel superconducting quantum circuits.

Breaking the limits: Discovery of the highest-energy photons from a gamma-ray burst

November 19, 2019

The first GRB detected by the MAGIC telescopes, known as GRB 190114C, reveals for the first time the highest energy photons measured from these objects.

DESI Opens Its 5,000 Eyes to Capture the Colors of the Cosmos

October 28, 2019

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), a new instrument designed to accurately map the Universe, begins its final testing stage.

Virgo and LIGO join forces for a new year-long signal hunt

March 26, 2019

The Virgo and LIGO detectors are ready to start the new Observing run called O3, lasting a whole year. The hunt for gravitational waves is set to start on April 1st when the Virgo detector and the LIGO twin detectors will start to take data becoming together the most sensitive gravitational wave observatory to date

Dark Energy Survey completes six-year mission

January 8, 2019

Scientists’ effort to map a portion of the sky in unprecedented detail is coming to an end, but their work to learn more about the expansion of the universe has just begun.

Final Agreements Signed for CTA's Southern Hemisphere Site in Chile

December 20, 2018

On 19 December 2018, the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO) signed the final agreements needed for CTA’s southern hemisphere array to be hosted near ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.