Public Viewing
Painter Hall - 9"
RLM Hall - 16"
·
Calendars
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Colloquium
UCLA
Metallicity
of the Massive
Protoplanets
around HR 8799
if formed by
Gravitational Instability
Tues 2/9
3:30 PM
RLM 15.216B
1 February 2010
Prof. Karl Gebhardt will deliver the 18th Annual Great Lecture in Astronomy, "Walk Softly When Exploring the Dark Side of the Universe: Black Holes, Dark Matter and Dark Energy," Saturday, February 6, from 1:00-2:00 PM in ACES 2.302 on The University of Texas at Austin campus. [map]. The lecture is free and open to the public. Recent discoveries have revealed that the greater part of the matter and energy known to comprise the Universe is completely hidden. Dr. Gebhardt, a premier researcher of Black Holes, and member of the HETDEX team, will overview the current discoveries and understanding of these dark components of the Universe, and summarize the full-scale attack from ongoing and future efforts.
Public Lecture ~ Walk Softly When Exploring the Dark Side of the Universe...
Mars Brightest for Year, Pairs up with Full Moon January 29
University of Texas at Austin Office of Public Affairs
27 January 2010
One of the skywatching highlights of the year takes place on the night of Jan. 29, as the full Moon and the planet Mars march high across the sky. Mars and the Moon are low in the east-northeast at nightfall, with the Red Planet to the left of the Moon. Mars looks like a brilliant orange star. One reason this is such a grand spectacle is that Mars is at opposition on the 29th, which means it lines up opposite the Sun as Earth passes by Mars in our smaller, faster orbit around the Sun. Mars rises around sunset and remains in view all night. The planet is also closest to us around opposition, so it shines brightest for the year. more..
New Planet Discoveries Announced by Kepler Team and Texas Co-Investigators
Kepler field of view
McDonald Observatory Press Release
4 January 2010
Washington, D.C.-- Kepler mission astronomers, including co-investigator Bill Cochran of The University of Texas at Austin, announced today the spaceborne telescope has found five new gas giant planets orbiting close to Sun-like stars. "The discovery of these planets demonstrates that Kepler is performing extremely well," Cochran said. "We fully expect to achieve the primary mission goal of discovering potentially habitable Earth-size planets." Cochran and Texas colleagues Michael Endl and Phillip MacQueen used two telescopes at the university's McDonald Observatory in West Texas to help confirm these planet discoveries, which were announced at the 215th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C. more..
The Daily Texan
by Hudson Lockett
Far above the desert landscape of West Texas, the Milky Way dominated the night sky.
Six astronomers huddled around a cluster of glowing monitors, wrapping up a six-day test run for a $34 million experiment that will keep the McDonald Observatory's largest telescope busy for three years, probing the mysteries of dark energy.
"There's a lot riding on this," said principal investigator Gary Hill early Sunday morning. The final version of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment will measure the effect of dark energy on the universe by surveying 100 million galaxies, making the largest-ever map of the universe in the process.
Other projects have searched for dark energy in the more recent past, but UT researchers using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope are the only ones examining the more distant past for data on the phenomenon that is pushing the universe apart at an accelerating rate.
"It easily is one of the biggest mysteries of all time in science," said UT astronomy professor Karl Gebhardt, one of the principal investigators working on the project. more..
HETDEX: Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment
Hobby-Eberly Telescope
McDonald Observatory and the University of Texas
McDonald Observatory operates in association with the Department of Astronomy, and is one of the world's leading centers for
astronomical research, education and public outreach. The activities of the faculty and staff span virtually all areas of modern
astronomy. Located in the Davis Mountains of west Texas, the observatory accommodates more than 100,000 visitors each
year, offering activities and programs for every level of interest.
