McDonald Observatory Invites Ecological Research as a Texas Field Station
McDonald Observatory Joins Texas Field Station Network
BY EMILY HOWARD
West Texas Businesses Preserve Night Sky – One Light Bulb at a Time
West Texas Businesses Preserve Night Sky–One Light Bulb at a Time
BY EMILY HOWARD
Astronomers Confirm Maisie’s Galaxy is Among Earliest Ever Observed
Astronomers Confirm Maisie’s Galaxy Among Earliest Ever Observed
BY MARC AIRHART
Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers racing to find some of the earliest galaxies ever glimpsed have now confirmed that a galaxy first detected last summer is in fact among the earliest ever found. The findings are in the journal Nature.
Mapping Everything Everywhere All At Once
Mapping Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Local Volume Mapper (LVM) Instrument has seen first science light. LVM is one of the three mappers that make up the fifth phase of the SDSS’s ambitious all-sky, multi-epoch spectroscopic survey. This new instrument will create a spectroscopic map of the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies.
Chemical Cartography Reveals the Milky Way’s Spiral Arms
Chemical Cartography Reveals the Milky Way’s Spiral Arms
BY EMILY HOWARD
Webb Telescope Detects Most Distant Active Supermassive Black Hole
JWST Detects Most Distant Active Supermassive Black Hole
BY MARC AIRHART
Researchers have discovered the most distant active supermassive black hole to date with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The galaxy, CEERS 1019, existed about 570 million years after the big bang, and its black hole is less massive than any other yet identified in the early universe.
New Era of Exoplanet Discovery Begins with Images of ‘Jupiter’s Younger Sibling’
New Era of Exoplanet Discovery Begins
BY MARC AIRHART
Searching for an Atmosphere on the Rocky Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c
Searching for an Atmosphere on TRAPPIST-1 c
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA)-led group of astronomers searched for an atmosphere on rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c. Though the planet is nearly identical in size and temperature to Venus, its atmosphere has turned out to be very different. By analysing the heat emitted from the planet, they conclude it may only have a tenuous atmosphere with minimal carbon dioxide.
Astronomers Observe Giant Tails of Helium Escaping Jupiter-Like Planet
Helium Tails Escaping Jupiter-Like Planet
BY EMILY HOWARD
AUSTIN, Texas. A team of astronomers has used observations from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) at The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory to discover some of the longest tails of gas yet observed escaping a planet.
Two eclipses across Texas bring science exploration to our backyard
Two eclipses across Texas
Texas sits under the X of two solar eclipse paths crisscrossing North America in the next year.