2024 – 2025

LIST OF SPEAKERS AND TOPICS

Samantha Scibelli

National Radio Astronomy Observatory
10 de septiembre de 2024

Probing the Precursor Prebiotic Chemistry of Low-mass Star and Planet Formation

Planets form from disks of gas and dust around young stars where the chemical composition is determined not only by ongoing chemical processes, but also by the inheritance of molecules from the preceding evolutionary stages within molecular clouds. Interstellar molecules with at least one carbon atom and six total atoms, known as complex organic molecules or COMs, are of particular interest to trace throughout the star formation process because they are thought to be the precursors of prebiotic species such as amino acids, DNA and RNA that are important to life on Earth. It is in the early, cold (10 K), and dense (~ 10^5 cm^-3) starless and prestellar core stage where COMs are now known to be prevalent, yet the mechanisms by which they form and exist in the gas-phase is still uncertain. In this talk, I will present an overview of the observational constraints set by my sub-millimeter radio telescope surveys (with the ARO 12m, Yebes 40m and GBT 100m) towards starless and prestellar cores in various molecular clouds within our Galaxy. These molecular line observations shed light on the gas-phase chemistry of early-stage star formation and adds to our understanding of the precursor prebiotic molecular inventory likely to be inherited by low-mass stars and planets.
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Gergö Popping

European Southern Observatory
26 de spetiembre de 2024

The dust and cold gas properties of normal galaxies at cosmic noon

At the peak epoch of cosmic star formation activity, cosmic noon (z ∼ 2), the molecular gas density of the Universe was an order of magnitude higher than today and the largest fraction of star-formation took place in dust-obscured environments. These observations show that dust and cold gas are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium (ISM) of high-redshift galaxies and plays a key role in galaxy physics. In the last decade ALMA has played a key role in characterising the dust and cold gas properties of galaxies at cosmic noon, providing new insights in the dust and gas content and morphological properties of massive star-forming galaxies. The coming decade will see the technological advances to push these studies towards less massive objects that were responsible for the bulk of star-formation in the Universe. Furthermore, it is expected that in the coming years the detailed distribution of dust and molecular gas emission in galaxies across cosmic time will be observed on a systematic basis. In this talk I will highlight our theoretical and observational efforts to start charecterising the dust and cold gas properties of normal galaxies at cosmic noon, not limited to the most massive and actively star-forming galaxies. In particular I will focus on the relative dust content of low-metallicity galaxies and how these constrain galaxy formation models as well as our predictions for the distribution of CO and dust-continuum emission in galaxies over cosmic time and how stacking observations can already provide us a glimpse of the future possibilities. I will finish by discussing the implications of our results for the interpretation of current and future ALMA and JWST observations.
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Javier Martin Davara

Universidad de La Laguna/CAB
10 de octubre de 2024

Avances en arqueología molecular: comprendiendo a los neandertales a través de los biomarcadores lipídicos

El análisis de biomarcadores lipídicos se ha consolidado como una herramienta fundamental en arqueología debido a la capacidad de estas moléculas para preservarse en el tiempo y su potencial para identificar fuentes bióticas específicas. Esto las convierte en excelentes indicadores para la reconstrucción de paleoambientes y de actividades humanas del pasado. En esta charla, abordaré la revolución metodológica que ha supuesto la incorporación de los análisis de biomarcadores lipídicos en la arqueología desde el último tercio del siglo XX, destacando los conocimientos adquiridos sobre las sociedades humanas prehistóricas a través de su estudio. A continuación, me centraré en la investigación que actualmente desarrollo en el yacimiento neandertal de El Salt (Alcoy, España), donde exploro el potencial de los biomarcadores para conocer la funcionalidad de las herramientas de sílex mediante el estudio de lípidos preservados en sus filos, así como para identificar fluctuaciones climáticas a través del análisis de n-alcanos y sus isótopos en sedimentos de distintos momentos de ocupación del sitio.
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Pablo Turrion San Pedro

European Space Agency
18 de octubre de 2024
Pablo Turrion San Pedro, es ingeniero informático y de telecomunicaciones, trabajando desde 2019 en la Agencia Espacial Europea, donde ha trabajado como Ingeniero de Operaciones para Columbus y la Estación Espacial Internacional, y más actualmente en BepiColombo, una misión europea cuyo destino es Mercurio. Además, Pablo es voluntario en PRISMA, una asociación LGTBQIA+ sin ánimo de lucro científica donde colabora en el área de Educación y Comunicación.
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Juan Manuel Garcia Ruiz


24 de octubre de 2024

Abiotic biomorphs, life detection and the origin of life

Beyond fundamental aspects of morphogenesis, the study of biomorphs has applications in the fabrication of advanced materials, but also in life detection and in the origin of life studies. The usefulness of life detection studies in rocks of the early Earth, in meteorites, and in space exploration of Mars and other planets or moons requires extensive knowledge of the ability of abiotic biomorphs to mimic life forms and the possibility to use chemical composition, microtexture, and nanostructure to disambiguate them. For origin of life studies, mineral and organic self-organization may provide the mandatory compartmentalization towards cells, to synthesize vesicular microreactors to foster the transition from organic chemistry to life. In this lecture, I will review the state of the art of this subject.
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Francisco Jiménez Esteban

Centro de Astrobiología
07 de noviembre de 2024

Studies of white dwarf stars from Gaia and the Virtual Observatory

Gaia mission has revolutionized our knowledge in many fields of Astronomy. Since the beginning, Gaia and the Virtual Observatory have demonstrated to be a pairing of great value. In collaboration with the Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña, the SVO has extensively exploited this pairing for the study of white dwarf stellar evolution. We were the first in published a catalogue of white dwarfs using Gaia-DR2, and the firsts in exploiting Gaia-DR3 BP/RP spectra to characterize the white dwarf population in the solar neighbourhood. Taking advantage of artificial intelligence techniques and a thorough and robust population synthesis code, we have studied the Galactic WD population, as well as some peculiar cases. In this talk, we will review the studies we have done so far and the main results obtained.
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Sergio Simón Díaz

Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias
14 de noviembre de 2024

The hidden secrets of Galactic massive OB stars (unveiled by large-scale surveys)

"A Universe devoid of stars with masses exceeding 8-10 times that of the Sun would be barren of life as we know it. These so-called massive stars are not only the primary creators of elements essential for life, but they have also played a fundamental role in shaping the evolution of the Universe since the formation of the first stars. Although less abundant than their lower-mass counterparts, massive stars are crucial drivers of galaxy evolution. They influence the interstellar medium, star and planet formation through their intense ionizing radiation, powerful stellar winds, and final explosive fates as supernovae. In addition, they serve as beacons for studying the cosmos at distances of several million light-years. Moreover, even before their true nature was understood, massive stars have captivated humanity since the dawn of civilization. Understanding the formation, evolution, and interactions of massive stars with their environments is a cornerstone of modern astrophysics. By the close of the 20th century, we believed we were on the verge of a comprehensive understanding of the physical processes governing their evolution. However, the advent of large-scale, high-resolution surveys of massive stars in various galaxies — particularly within the Local Group, including our own Milky Way — has revealed a much more complex picture than we initially anticipated. This complexity has underscored the need to reassess and refine our current paradigm of massive star evolution. In this seminar, I will present several examples of the work undertaken by the IACOB team over the past 15 years, as part of broader global efforts within the massive star community, to reassemble the fragmented pieces of the massive star puzzle. Large-scale surveys have played a pivotal role in this ongoing effort, providing new insights and revealing the intricate details of massive star evolution that challenge previous models and assumptions."
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Robert Luther

Museum for Natural History Berlin
21 de noviembre de 2024

Impact experiments and numerical simulations in support of the DART and Hera space missions

Asteroids of small size pose a significant risk to human life and infrastructure. Depending on the size, an impact can effect several countries. A concept to mitigate an imminent impact is the kinetic impactor technique, which was tested by NASA’s DART mission, demonstrating a successful change of the orbit of an asteroid. The follow-up Hera mission by ESA is going to do a detailed characterisation of the system. In this presentation, experiments and simulations are shown, which help to understand the DART impact in terms of crater morphology, ejected material, and target properties of the asteroid.
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David O'Ryan

CAB/ESA
28 de noviembre de 2024

Exploring the Effects of Galaxy Interaction with the Hubble Space Telescope Archives

Galaxy interaction and merging is a fundamental processes driving galaxy evolution. Interaction causes many effects on galaxies, from a change in morphology, to increases in star formation, to potential ignition of nuclear activity. To fully explore this we need large, statistically significant samples of interacting galaxies. We build a set 21,926 interacting galaxies directly from the Hubble Advanced Product (HAP) archive using the new platform ESA Datalabs. This us with provides direct access to Terabytes of observational data. We use a novel machine learning algorithm to classify over 92 million sources into interacting and non-interacting galaxies. We present this catalogue and a number of 'gems' of the archive. These are other objects of astrophysical interest that we happen to find throughout the HST archives. By cross matching our resultant catalogue with the COSMOS survey, we explore the relationship between the timescale of a galaxy interaction and the resulting change in star formation and nuclear activity. We find that accounting for the morphology of the interacting system - not just the projected separation - is important to consider when investigating these changes.
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Isabel Pérez

Agencia Espacial Española
05 de diciembre de 2024
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Yuri Aikawa

University of Tokyo
13 d diciembre de 2024

Search for building blocks of habitable worlds with ALMA

Stars like the Sun are formed from gas in interstellar space within a galaxy. A newly formed young star has a circumstellar disk, which is the birthplace of a planetary system. The disk consists mainly of H2 gas and includes trace amounts of other elements and small dust grains. Dust grains eventually grow to form rocky planets like Earth. Elucidating the process of planet formation is essential for a unified understanding of the diversity of exoplanets and the origin of our solar system. Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) revolutionized planet-formation studies not only by imaging rings carved by planets in the disk but also by revealing the chemical composition of the disk, i.e. raw material of planetary systems. So far, more than 50 molecular species have been detected. Recent detections of organic molecules such as CH3OCH3 indicate that they are abundant in the disk. Similarities of molecular composition and isotope ratios between the disks and comets in our Solar system indicate that raw materials for habitable worlds are available in these formation sites of exoplanetary systems.
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Laura Colzi

Centro de Astrobiología
09 de enero de 2025

Isotopic ratios and their many aspects in astrophysics

"One of the most important tools to investigate the chemical history of our Galaxy and our own Solar System is to measure the isotopic ratios of chemical elements, such as hydrogen (D/H), carbon (12C/13C), or nitrogen (14N/15N). Isotopic ratios measured in molecules within interstellar molecular clouds depend on the chemical evolution of the galaxy due to stellar nucleosynthesis, and thus they can provide unique constraints to the history of star formation in galaxies. Moreover, isotopic ratios also depend on local chemical fractionation effects, which are closely connected to the physical conditions of molecular clouds and cores (e.g. density and temperature, or UV radiation field). In this seminar I will first briefly review some astronomical observations and theoretical chemical models devoted to the study of hydrogen and nitrogen fractionation. Then, I will show how isotopic ratios observed at different scales of our Galaxy with different radiotelescopes, from the central molecular zone to the outer Milky Way, can be used to trace different astrophysical properties. I will present how D/H ratios trace the first phases of star formation in the inner 100 pc of our Galaxy, and how 12C/13C and 14N/15N ratios track the nucleosynthesis history of the Milky Way thanks to the use of Galactic Chemical Evolution models."
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Pedro Mas Buitrago

Centro de Astrobiología
16 de enero de 2025

M dwarf stellar parameter determination with autoencoders and deep transfer learning

"The estimation of stellar parameters for M dwarfs often involves the comparison of observed spectra with different synthetic collections. In this process, a major source of uncertainty is the “synthetic gap” (difference between theoretical and observed spectra), which must be addressed beforehand to know the reliability of the parameter estimation. In this work, we propose a deep learning (DL) methodology to bridge the synthetic gap in stellar parameter estimation, using a sample of high S/N, high resolution, spectra from 286 CARMENES survey M dwarfs. For this purpose, we built a two-step process that involves different deep learning approaches. In particular, we used deep transfer learning (DTL), which focuses on transferring knowledge from one model to another. First, we trained a sparse autoencoder to effectively compress synthetic spectra from the PHOENIX-ACES models into a low-dimensional latent space. Using this trained autoencoder as a base model, we adopted a DTL approach to adapt it to the target domain (CARMENES spectra) while keeping the features learned in the data-rich source domain (PHOENIX-ACES spectra) frozen. Using the low-dimensional encoded latent space from the PHOENIX-ACES spectra as input features, we trained a convolutional neural network (CNN) to build a regression model and estimate the stellar parameters of the 286 M Dwarfs. "
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Gustavo Garcia Gomez-Tejedor

Instituto de Física Fundamental (IFF) CSIC
23 de eneroi 2025

Radiation damage and benefits at the molecular level

Since the discovery of the X-rays in 1895, ionizing radiation has been widely used in medicine both for therapy and diagnostics. Radiotherapy techniques for cancer treatment are connected with the ability of such kind of radiation to destroy cancer cells via irreparable alterations of its DNA content. The most sophisticated cancer diagnostics (PET) are based on detecting the radiation produced by positron annihilation around incipient secondary tumors (metastasis). Treatment plans related to these applications are based on the radiation dose, i. e. the energy delivered by the radiation per mass unit of the target. In this seminar we will review the main characteristic of these techniques and summarize the modelling procedure that our research group (Radiation-Matter Interactions at IFF-CSIC), in collaboration with other research and biomedical institutions, has developed during last 10 years in order to improve the accuracy of these treatments by providing an accurate description of the radiation effects at the molecular level (induced molecular alterations). We will also introduce the theoretical and experimental methods designed by us to obtain the data required by such type of models.
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Isabel Rebollido Vazquez

European Space Agency
30 de enero de 2025

A comprehensive view of The Beta Pic system

"The Beta Pictoris system was the first young planetary system to ever be imaged. Ever since, the astronomical community has thoroughly investigated it, finding large amounts of dust and gas, exocomets, and two planets (for now). All of this makes it the perfect laboratory to investigate the dynamics and chemistry of the late stages of planet formation. Recent JWST observations using imaging and spectroscopy have revealed that the dynamical activity of the system is much more complex than initially expected, with a high collision rate that affects the composition and the morphology of the disk. I will present here an overview of the system focusing on the results from JWST program GTO 1411, that was designed to investigate the dust component at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths, providing new insights on the dust morphology, composition, and distribution. The combination of the high sensitivity of the on board instruments with the 4QPM and Lyot coronagraphs allows for the most detailed images of the Beta Pictoris disk so far at this wavelength range. In this talk, I will present JWST NIRCam and MIRI coronagraphic images, ranging from 1.82 to 23 microns. I will also summarize the analysis of prominent disk features observed for the first time, and compare it to previous ground and space based observations at multiple wavelengths. "
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Pablo Finkel

Centro de Astrobiología
06 de febrero de 2025

Lipid Biomarkers in Extreme Environments with Relevance for Mars Exploration

"Lipid molecules are organic compounds, insoluble in water, and based on carbon-carbon chains that form an integral part of biological cell membranes. As such, lipids are ubiquitous in life on Earth, which is why they are considered useful biomarkers for life detection in terrestrial environments. These resistant molecules display effective membrane-forming properties even under geochemically hostile conditions that challenge most microbial life. These unique properties suggest that lipids could serve as universal indicators of life, even on extraterrestrial bodies. Building on these insights, this talk draws from a recently published literature review to explore the role of lipid biomarkers in astrobiology. We will delve into different types of terrestrial extreme environments with geochemical and geomorphological analogy to present and past Mars, where a putative life may have once developed. While no single lipid biomarker is tied to specific environmental conditions, characteristic molecular patterns emerge from the extremophiles capable of thriving in these settings. Each of the extreme environments that will be discussed here hold a unique series of mineral features capable of maximizing the already high preservation potential of lipids. In this sense, the geostability of lipids is crucial in astrobiology, as it aligns with the immense geological timescales imposed by planetary formation and evolution. By the end of the talk, we will have reevaluated the potential of these molecules as robust astrobiological targets and as suitable tools to interrogate whether there is life on Mars, or if there ever was. "
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Rita dos Santos Severino

Centro de Astrobiología
13 de febrero de 2025

Ancestral Proteins - a Window into Early Life

"In this seminar, I will discuss ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) techniques, the reconstruction of Precambrian chaperonins, and their application in the SOLID-LDChip (Signs of Life Detector–Life Detector Chip) technology developed at CAB. ASR and protein “resurrection” techniques enable the reconstruction of ancestral protein sequences—potentially dating back to 4 Ga—and their expression and characterization in the laboratory. Studying these proteins provides insights into the biochemical properties of early life, contributing to our understanding of ancient biogeochemistry and integrating the evolution of life into Earth's geological record. Given the similar geological histories of Earth and Mars, and the tendency of life to adopt comparable molecular strategies under similar conditions, we propose that a hypothetical Martian microbiome could retain features of extinct life forms, akin to those found in early-Earth analog environments. By using antibodies against resurrected ancestral proteins, we aim to detect present-day peptides that resemble those from Precambrian Earth (3–4 Ga) and incorporate them into the LDChip. These conserved molecular features could serve as biomarkers, offering insights into metabolic processes and the biochemistry of early life on Mars. One of the selected families for ASR is the chaperonin family—ubiquitous, essential molecular machines responsible for protein folding. As the most ancient members of the molecular chaperone family, chaperonins are classified into three structural and phylogenetic groups. Understanding their evolutionary trajectory provides valuable insights into the early evolution of life on Earth. "
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María Ángeles Lezcano

IMDEA
20 de febrero de 2025

Andean lake terraces: A microbial archive of adaptation to environmental stressors

Microbial remnants preserved in ancient lake sediments offer a unique window into the environmental history of lake ecosystems. Analysing biomolecules like DNA, proteins and lipids from sediments allow researchers to reconstruct the composition of ancient microbial communities and decipher their adaptations to the environmental conditions at a particular time in history. The high altitude lakes of the Andean Altiplano provide a compelling setting for this type of paleobiological research. Altiplano lakes are drying out due to the current climate, leaving behind lake terraces of varying ages exposed to atmospheric conditions. The microbiomes of these terraces are scarcely studied, yet they harbor novel, uncultured microbial lineages adapted to a range of environmental stressors, including variations in lake water chemistry, daily thermal oscillations, and desiccation. In addition, these lake terraces also serve as terrestrial analogs for Martian paleolake basins, which experienced rapid desiccation in the early history of Mars. Investigating these unique microbial communities offers an opportunity to advance our understanding of microbial environmental adaptation and help define the limits of life on Earth and potentially beyond.
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Tom Broadhurst

Ikerbasque Research Institute
25 de febrero de 2025

Comparing Particle vs. Wave Dark Matter with JWST

We have discovered many lensed stars at cosmological distances with JWST, that continuously twinkle along the Einstein ring of a massive lensing Clusters. Intriguingly, this occurs mainly along inner edge of the Einstein ring, with a broad asymmetrical spread. I show this is uniquely explained by the inhernt wave interference of dark matter as a Bose Einstein Condensate. In contrast, subhalos of CDM predict micro-lensing stars should be detected mainly along outer rim of the Einstein ring. We also discriminate between these dark matter models using the "banana" effect recognised in JWST images, where galaxies are found to be surprisingly elongated at z>3 compared to the local Universe. Our detailed hydrodynamical cosmological simulations of wave dark matter show that gas and stars steadily rain down along smooth filaments creating prolate shaped galaxies at the junctions in agreement with the data, whereas the low mass galaxies of CDM readily form within early filaments and frequently merge so that rounder shaped, oblate spheroids are predicted by z~3. Finally I will discuss local dwarf galaxies arguing their diversity may point to a general "Axiverse" of dark waves, as predicted by String Theory.
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Sébastien Charnoz

Université Paris Cité / Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
05 de marzo de 2025

Formation of the First Solar System Solids: Formation, Transport, and Non-Equilibrium Processes

"The oldest solids in the Solar System are the chondrites, primitive assemblages of minerals that formed contemporaneously with planetary bodies. Chondrites remain among the most enigmatic objects in the Solar System, as they are composed of components that formed at different temperatures, experienced distinct thermal histories, and were accreted at various locations and times. They are classified into three main families (Enstatite, Ordinary, Carbonaceous) , each with unique characteristics. Among them, carbonaceous chondrites (CCs), commonly believed to have formed in the cooler outer regions of the Solar System, paradoxically contain the highest abundance of refractory material, including Ca-Al-rich inclusions (CAIs)—high-temperature condensates that should have formed much closer to the Sun. The age of CAIs, the oldest measured in Solar System materials, suggests that they formed concurrently with the Sun itself, possibly as early as during the collapse of the parent molecular cloud that gave birth to the Solar System. In contrast, the ordinary (OC) and enstatite chondrites (EC) are highly reduced, depleted in oxygen, and show little to no evidence of aqueous alteration. They are thought to represent the primary building blocks of the terrestrial planets. However, their precise formation pathways, the reasons behind the large variations in oxidation state among chondrite families, and the overall origin of these three families remain unresolved. In this presentation, I will highlight recent advances in modeling the formation of the first solids in the Solar System by coupling dynamical and chemical models in the context of planetary formation. I will also demonstrate how non-equilibrium condensation processes may have played a major role in shaping the mineralogical diversity of the first minerals of the solar system."
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Maria Rosa de La Torre

INTA
06 de marzo de 2025

Experimentos Científicos en el Espacio: Límites de la vida y búsqueda de vida más allá de la Tierra.

"La realización de experimentos científicos en el espacio es necesaria, ya que es el único medio real, proveedor de todos los parámetros ambientales de espacio simultáneamente. Hasta ahora los experimentos científicos expuestos como cargas útiles sobre plataformas espaciales de la ESA, han requerido el retorno a la Tierra. Actualmente la exploración espacial está ofreciendo nuevas posibilidades para experimentos científicos con el diseño y desarrollo de nuevas plataformas de exposición espacial, que permitan reducir los costes de lanzamiento y de desarrollo. Este seminario está enfocado en el fascinante desarrollo y explotación de experimentos científicos en el ámbito de la astrobiología, centrados en la supervivencia de organismos extremófilos en el espacio. A través de mis investigaciones en el INTA, hemos llevado a cabo experimentos innovadores, a bordo del satélite FOTON de la ESA como en la Estación Espacial Internacional, que han demostrado la capacidad de líquenes y comunidades microbianas para resistir condiciones extremas en el espacio y simular Marte. Estos estudios no solo amplían nuestro entendimiento sobre los límites de la vida, sino que también aportan valiosos conocimientos sobre la posibilidad de transporte interplanetario de vida. "
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Patricia Cruz Gamba

Centro de Astrobiología
13 de marzo de 2025

Photometric segregation of dwarf and giant FGK stars using the SVO Filter Profile Service and photometric tool

"This work is focused on the segregation of FGK dwarf and giant stars through narrow-band photometric data using the Spanish Virtual Observatory (SVO) Filter Profile Service and associated photometric tools. We selected spectra from the MILES, STELIB, and ELODIE stellar libraries, and used SVO photometric tools to derive the synthetic photometry in 15 J-PAS narrow filters, which were especially selected to cover spectral features sensitive to gravity changes. Using machine-learning techniques as the Gaussian mixture model and the support vector machine, we defined several criteria based on J-PAS colours to discriminate between dwarf and giant stars. We selected five colour-colour diagrams that presented the most promising separation between both samples. Our results show an overall accuracy in the studied sample of 97% for FGK stars, although a dependence on the luminosity type and the stellar effective temperature was found. We also defined a colour-temperature relation for dwarf stars with effective temperatures between 4000 and 7000 K, which allows one to estimate the stellar effective temperature from four J-PAS filters (J0450, J0510, J0550, and J0620). Additionally, we extended the study to M-type giant and dwarf stars, achieving a similar accuracy to that for FGK stars."
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Damien P. Devos

Institut Pasteur
20 de marzo de 2025

PVC bacteria: Divergent biology and the Tree of Life

"Recent genomics approaches, metagenomics, have greatly improved our sampling of natural diversity and uncovered previously unknown microbial lineages. This revolution revealed the huge biodiversity that is out there, unknown to us, evidencing the enormous number of exciting fundamentals in biology to be discovered in the so-called non-model organism. Amongst the big questions that these discoveries promise to answer is the Tree of Life. The relationship between the three domains of life is still one of the most important unanswered question in Biology. Members of the bacterial Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobia-Chlamydiae (PCV) superphylum display features that are rarely observed in bacteria, some of which are usually more associated with eukaryotes or archaea. I will show how the study of these bacteria participate in our exploration of the biodiversity and can redefine our understanding of the Tree of Life. "
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Ismael Garcia-Bernete

Centro de Astrobiología
03 de abril de 2025

Survival and Processing of Dust, Ices, and Hydrocarbon Molecules in Active Galaxies: Insights from the James Webb Space Telescope

"Most galaxies undergo an active phase during their evolution, where the energy released by active galactic nuclei (AGN) impacts the interstellar medium (ISM), regulating star formation (SF). Dust, gas, and molecules are key tracers of the SMBH-host-galaxy connection, with the IR waveband offering numerous spectral features that serve as sensitive barometers of the physical conditions in the ISM. These features, including dust, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), small organic molecules, hydrogen, and water, are now accessible via JWST and ALMA. In this talk, I will summarize our recent JWST work, demonstrating that dust grains and organic molecules (from small hydrocarbons to complex PAHs) effectively trace AGN feedback from the innermost regions to kpc scales and identify deeply obscured galactic nuclei in nearby and distant galaxies. Our findings reveal that nuclear PAH emission in AGN is dominated by neutral PAHs, unlike the ionized PAHs in star-forming regions, which are less stable due to ""Coulomb explosions."" This trend has been recently confirmed in a larger sample of AGN, and provides evidence that AGN-outflows have a significant impact on the properties of PAH molecules (even at kpc scales). These results highlight the great potential of these organic molecules in disentangling AGN feedback. New JWST observations also provide insights into PAH formation and destruction, offering exciting opportunities to explore the role of small organic molecules in ISM chemistry and their connection to more complex molecules such as PAHs."
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Belén López Martí

Univ. San Pablo-CEU
10 de abril de 2025

The Gaia catalogue of Galactic AGB stars

"Stars with masses lower than about 8 solar masses go through the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase toward the end of their lives. These stars are characterized by strong mass loss, creating circumstellar envelopes and sometimes masers, and are thus very bright in the infrared and quite obscured in visible light. According to the current picture, the chemistry of the envelope changes depending on the star’s mass: While the lowest-mass stars are oxygen-rich, the intermediate mass stars are carbon-rich, and the most massive stars are again oxygen-rich. However, although this picture has been quite well studied in the Magellanic Clouds, it is far from being proved in our Galaxy, due to the lack of accurate distance estimations until recently. Fortunately, thanks to Gaia, we can now change this. The Gaia Catalogue of Galactic AGB Stars is a project funded by the ESA Faculty and carried out by the SVO in collaboration with Hamburg Observatory, whose primary goal is the construction of a catalogue of AGB stars in our Galaxy with Gaia counterparts. We started from compilations of AGB stars in the literature, and identified the sources with counterparts in Gaia DR3. We retrieved additional photometry between the ultraviolet and the far-infrared from catalogues available in the Virtual Observatory to construct the spectral energy distributions of our sources using the VO SED Analyser (VOSA) developed by the SVO team at CAB. We also used this tool to fit the SEDs with theoretical models in order to derive the bolometric fluxes and, if a Gaia distance was available, also the absolute luminosities of the objects. This way, we identified nearly 8000 AGB stars with Gaia counterparts, about 50% of them with luminosity estimations. This allows us to analyse and compare the properties of the AGB stars with different chemistries, which will be discussed during this talk. "
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Francisco Javier González Payo

UCM
08 de mayo de 2025

Search and characterisation of multiple host star systems

The study of multiple star systems with orbiting planets provides a deeper understanding of planetary dynamics and formation in diverse stellar environments. The results of a practical case are presented, where virtual observatory techniques have been applied to identify multiple host star systems in the solar neighbourhood. Star search techniques have been employed using the Gaia DR3 database, and the results were compared with those from the Washington Double Star catalogue and existing literature. The identified multiple systems were further characterised using additional virtual observatory techniques.
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Miriam Cortés Conteras

UCM
22 de mayo de 2025

The GTC OSIRIS and the Calar Alto CAFOS Broad Band first data releases with the VO

"Astronomical data archives and catalogues have become a new paradigm in the astrophysics research. Reduced and high-level data products are of fundamental importance for archives as they enhance their use by the community. By using these resources, astronomers are able to conduct research projects that would otherwise be very time-consuming or completely unaffordable. We carried out the data curation, preparation, and processing of broad-band images observed with the OSIRIS imager at GTC and with CAFOS at Calar Alto. We also performed the corresponding astrometric and photometric calibrations. As a result, we presented the GTC OSIRIS and the Calar-Alto Direct Imaging first data releases in 2020 and 2023, respectively. All these data are publicly available. Some examples of the scientific exploitation of the catalogues are presented to illustrate their scientific potential. For instance, summing up from both catalogues, we identified more than 200 asteroids with a total of 3274 detections. We also classified more than 2350 stars with spectral types later than M0 among which there are 20 ultracool dwarfs with effective temperatures under 2700K. We found 516 potential transients related to cool dwarfs likely observed during flarying, Solar System objects, gamma ray bursts... Still, 60 of them lack of information and are interesting targets for a follow-up. Also photometric variable stars are identified in these catalogues. As seen, lots of science cases can be developed by using archival data and the aim of this talk is to highlight the efforts conducted and the usefulness of such catalogues. "
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Marina Diaz Michelena

INTA
30 de mayo de 2025

Space magnetism activities for planetary exploration

"Craters are typical features on the surface of planets. Their origin is diverse and comprises the impact of meteorites, explosive volcanism, sink holes, etc, all of them surface reshaping mechanisms that can be related in greater or lesser extent to the geodynamics of the bodies. Among the different processes, high energy cratering often implies a notable modification of the magnetization state of the rocks, which is recorded by their magnetic bearings. Later, the evolution in the different atmospheres might also change the magnetic properties of the minerals [1,2]. Therefore, the magnetic investigations can be used to understand environmental features at the time when the event occurred as well as those that followed the formation event [3]. On Earth, volcanoes are continuously monitored both by remote sensing and in situ with parametric nets of sensors that permit their study along all their phases [4]. There are also several techniques devoted to the identification and study of impact craters. However, these techniques, mostly the ones that imply in situ and multiparametric measurements are not feasible in the planetary exploration context. One would expect that the upcoming era of exploration of Mars and the Moon would permit the establishment of nets of stations by the study features as well as high-resolution measurements with remote sensing platforms flying at low altitudes (10 – 100 m) like helicopters [5] or balloons. This work presents the technology developed at INTA Space Magnetism Area and several studies performed in terrestrial analogues that mimic those expected in the planetary exploration context. Acknowledgements: The field campaigns have been funded by the Spanish Government through the grants ESP2015-70184-R1, ESP2017-88930-R, PID2020-119208RB-I00 and RTI2018-099615-B-100, the aerial platforms for magnetometry, in MAGMA project with MAGMA NFQ Ventures. References: [1] Lillis et al. 2010. J. Geophys. Res 115: E07007 [2] Purucker, M.E. & Waaler, K.A. (2013): Crustal magnetism. Vol. 5: Geomagnetism. M. Kono (ed.), Elsevier. [3] William, W.J. et al. 2013. Gravity and magnetic exploration. Cambr. Univ. Press, 502 p. [4] Hunt et al. 2013, Wiley. Online Library. DOI: 10.1029/RF003p0189. [4] Fernández, J. et al. 2021, Sci Rep 11, 2540. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82292-3 [5] Balaram, B., et al. 2018 AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference. DOI:10.2514/6.2018-0023. Keywords: High-resolution magnetometry, magnetic instrumentation, magnetic anomalies, volcanoes, impact craters."
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Marí-Paz Zorzano

CAB
05 de junio de 2025

Robotic missions searching for Martian life

"The search for the origin of life—and its possible emergence elsewhere in the universe—is one of humanity’s most profound scientific questions. Mars, our planetary neighbor, may hold part of the answer. Around 3.8 billion years ago, when life began to take root on Earth, Mars was also a habitable world. Could life have arisen there too? This talk explores the major discoveries from NASA’s ongoing robotic exploration of Mars, with a focus on the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, and the ambitious Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign led by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Curiosity's investigation of Gale Crater has uncovered key evidence of past liquid water, organic molecules, intriguing isotopic ratios and a mineralogical record of an environment that may once have supported microbial life. Perseverance, currently operating in Jezero Crater—an ancient lakebed where a river once deposited fine-grained deltaic sediments with a high potential for preserving biosignatures. These sedimentary layers, laid down roughly 3.5 billion years ago, may hold vital clues about Mars’ past habitability and the chemical conditions that could have supported life. While both rovers are helping assess the planet’s ancient and potentially current habitability—including subsurface brines, radiation shielding, and possible refugia for extremophiles—the MSR mission represents the next crucial step. By returning carefully selected rock samples to Earth, scientists will be able to conduct high-precision laboratory analyses to search for biomolecules, isotopic anomalies, redox gradients, and other indicators of past, or even recent, microbial activity. This talk also highlights the feasibility of analyzing preserved DNA within rocks as a means to investigate life, while emphasizing stringent contamination control protocols. Together, these robotic missions form a comprehensive strategy to answer a fundamental question: Did life ever exist on Mars?"
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Enrique Solano Márquez

CAB
12 de junio de 2025

Vanishing objects and the Virtual Observatory

In this talk, we will describe a search for vanishing sources in POSS I red images using virtual observatory (VO) archives, tools, and services. The search aims at finding POSS I (red) sources not present in any other catalogue available from the Virtual Observatory. We found 298 165 sources visible only in POSS I plates and not visible either in Pan-STARRS DR2 (limiting magnitude r = 21.4) or Gaia EDR3 (limiting magnitude G = 21), out of which 288 770 had a cross-match within 5 arcsec in other archives (mainly in the infrared), 189 were classified as asteroids, 35 as variable objects, 3592 as artefacts from the comparison to a second digitization (Supercosmos), and 180 as high proper motion objects without information on proper motion in Gaia EDR3. The remaining unidentified transients (5399) are available from a VO compliant archive and can be of interest in searches for strong M-dwarf flares, high-redshift supernovae, asteroids, or other categories of unidentified red transients.
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Beatriz Pindado Ibáñez


16 de junio de 2025

Otras realidades

Sensibilización sobre discapacidad contada en primera persona por una profesional vinculada al mundo de la discapacidad y al movimiento asociativo desde hace más de 15 años.
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