FORT DAVIS, Texas — In the course of research for his PhD, Zach Vanderbosch spent nearly 300 nights studying the heavens from telescopes at The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory. Later this month, he will receive his doctorate for his research into the dead stars known as white dwarfs, and the orbiting disks of debris made up of these stars’ former planets.

McDonald Observatory provides UT Austin astronomy graduate students with valuable and unprecedented access to research facilities needed to complete their research.

FORT DAVIS, Texas — Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory have discovered an unusually massive black hole at the heart of one of the Milky Way’s dwarf satellite galaxies, called Leo I. Almost as massive as the black hole in our own galaxy, the finding could redefine our understanding of how all galaxies — the building blocks of the universe — evolve. The work is published in a recent issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

AUSTIN — A new report out from the National Academy of Sciences, the highly anticipated decadal survey Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s, or “Astro2020,” has presented recommendations for making federal investments critical to achieving advances in US astronomy over the next decade. The report ranked the US Extremely Large Telescope Program (US-ELTP) as the top project for ground-based observatories, recommending federal support for the final construction stages of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT).

WHAT
McDonald Observatory will host its first Dark Skies Festival, sponsored by Apache Corporation

WHEN
Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30, 2022

WHERE
McDonald Observatory Frank N. Bash Visitors Center near Fort Davis, Texas

AUSTIN — On September 14, 2021, The University of Texas at Austin and other co-founders of the Giant Magellan Telescope project welcomed the Weizmann Institute of Science into their international consortium. The new partnership reinforces that completing the largest and most powerful optical-infrared telescope ever engineered is a top priority for the global scientific community.

FORT DAVIS, Texas — McDonald Observatory and its community partners (Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, the Davis Mountains Preserve, and others) are close to sending in their application to create an International Dark Sky Reserve in the Big Bend, and need your help. The group is asking for letters of support to accompany their application to the International Dark Sky Association.

The proposed Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve would be the largest of its kind in the world, at more than 10 million acres in West Texas and Northern Mexico.

AUSTIN — Galaxies pollute the environment they exist in, researchers have found.

A team of astronomers including The University of Texas at Austin’s Danielle Berg and John Chisholm used a new imaging system at the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii to confirm that what flows into a galaxy is a lot cleaner than what flows out. The research is published today in The Astrophysical Journal.

FORT DAVIS, Texas — After more than three decades of bringing the wonders of the night sky to visitors and the public, Frank Cianciolo is retiring from McDonald Observatory at the end of this month. Cianciolo is the manager of the Frank N. Bash Visitors Center.

“Frank Cianciolo’s love for astronomy and masterful knowledge of the night sky have been shared with generations of visitors to McDonald Observatory,” said observatory Director Taft Armandroff. “My colleagues and I thank him for his dedication to McDonald Observatory’s public programs at our Frank N. Bash Visitors Center.”

FORT DAVIS, Texas — The dark skies of far West Texas may soon get even darker, thanks to commitments from communities in the region to reduce light pollution. McDonald Observatory wishes to thank the counties and municipalities in the proposed Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve; all have now adopted new outdoor lighting ordinances. These are Brewster, Jeff Davis, Presidio, and Reeves counties, and the cities of Alpine, Balmorhea, Marfa, Presidio, and Valentine.

AUSTIN — Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg, a professor of physics and astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin, has died. He was 88.