2003

Public Lecture: Einstein's Greatest Blunder? The Case for Cosmic "Antigravity"

17 October 2003

Professor Alex Filipenko, UC Berkeley, delivers lecture for the American Astronomical Society Second Century Lectures, as part of the two-day event honoring the retirement of McDonald Observatory Director Frank Bash.

Symposium: Facing the Future, A Festival for Frank - October 17-18, 2003

8 October 2003

Symposium honoring the retirement of Frank Bash as Director of the McDonald Observatory.

New Method Discovered for Estimating Distances to Dwarf Novae

27 May 2003

Nashville, TN --Astronomers using the Fine Guidance Sensors of the Hubble Space Telescope to study dwarf novae unexpectedly discovered a new method of estimating the distances to these strange double-star systems...

Prediction and Confirmation of 'Magnetars' Wins UT Scientist and Colleagues Rossi Prize

17 February 2003

Austin, TX --The 2003 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society is awarded to Robert Duncan and Christopher Thompson for their prediction, and to Chryssa Kouveliotou for her observational confirmation, of the existence of magnetars...

Gamma Ray Burst Astronomy Opens New Chapter at McDonald

3 February 2003

Austin, TX --The second of four planned telescopes for the Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment (ROTSE IIIb) has seen first light at McDonald Observatory. The equipment is dedicated to the detection and observation of optical transients...

Professor Frank Shu to Deliver Antoinette de Vaucouleurs Memorial Lecture

24 January 2003

Austin, TX --The tenth award of the Antoinette de Vaucouleurs Memorial Lectureship and Medal honors the distinguished theoretical astrophysicist, Professor Frank Shu, whose accomplishments include the theoretical work on protostars often referred to as "the standard model" of star formation...