News

11 June, 2026

ESA adopts galactic archaeology mission

The ARRAKIHS mission, with the participation of the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, will enable Europe to lead the exploration of the low-surface-brightness Universe Read more

9 April, 202610 April, 2026

Telescope made in Portugal starts operations in Chile

A team from the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço successfully concluded the installation of the first solar telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. Designed to support the search for exoplanets, the PoET telescope will study the Sun with unprecedented precision, leading to further understanding how stellar activity influences the detection of worlds beyond our Solar System. Read more

2 April, 20262 April, 2026

IA reseacher awarded prize by the European Astronomical Society

A researcher from the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço received the MERAC Prize for the Best Doctoral Thesis in Observational Astrophysics, attributed by the European Astronomical Society Read more

13 March, 202613 March, 2026

ALMA reveals that “dormant” galaxies hide more life than previously thought

An international team, including a researcher from the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA), has used the ALMA microwave telescope to uncover hidden reservoirs of gas and dust in inactive galaxies Read more

12 February, 2026

Cheops discovers a late bloomer exoplanet

A team, featuring several researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, published in the prestigious journal Science, the discovery of an exoplanet that defies current planet formation theories Read more

Activities

Upcoming activities

6 - 24 July Online and in person

Online and in person

IA Summer Program 2026

How far do you dare to go? IA Summer Program is your gateway to Space. Targeted at university students. From July 6 to 24. Applications due by 12th of June.

Free entrance

Resources and Contents

O disco da Via Láctea fotografado no deserto do Atacama, no Chile

100 years ago, the Milky Way was displaced from the centre of the Universe

Precisely a century ago, the New York Times newspaper announced that the Andromeda nebula was after all another “island universe”, so big or even bigger than the Milky Way. The Universe had just increased tenfold. Read more

26 November, 202426 November, 2024

Representação artística do exoplaneta K2-18b, mais pequeno que Neptuno, um planeta recentemente observado pelo telescópio espacial James Webb

On breezes never before sailed

With more than five thousand planets already discovered in orbit of other stars, scientists are now launching a new era of surprising discoveries about the exotic atmospheres of these distant worlds. Article by Tomás Silva in National Geographic Portugal. Read more

14 November, 202426 November, 2024

Most detailed map of our galaxy in infrared

Thirteen years of observations led to the most detailed map of Milky Way. Nanda Kumar, an IA collaborator, talked to the podcast Palavra de Cientista about it. Read more

14 November, 2024

Conceção artística de um planeta nómada, ou errante, com a nebulosa NGC 1333 apresentada em fundo. Os planetas errantes, n

In search of the planets that are truly wanderers

They are worlds much like planets, but not towed to a star. Were they born in a cradle of stars, or are they planets thrown out from their orbits and left to their own fortune? Article by Koraljka Mužić in National Geographic Portugal. Read more

14 October, 202426 November, 2024

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