FORT DAVIS, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory will hold its first Dark Skies Festival Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30. The festival will include daytime and evening events for the whole family, plus the debut of the new “Preserving Dark Skies” exhibit in the Frank N. Bash Visitors Center. Both the exhibit and the festival are funded by Apache Corporation.

FORT DAVIS, Texas, U.S. and COAHUILA, Mexico — The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory, The Nature Conservancy – Davis Mountain Preserve, and the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) are pleased to announce the certification of the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve. The designation, granted by the International Dark-Sky Association, recognizes the commitment of organizations, governments, businesses and citizens in the region to maintain dark skies.

AUSTIN — NASA has selected 24 new Fellows for its prestigious NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP), two of whom are heading to The University of Texas at Austin. The program enables outstanding postdoctoral scientists to pursue independent research in any area of NASA astrophysics, using theory, observations, simulations, experimentation, or instrument development. Each fellowship provides the awardee up to three years of support at a university or research center of their choosing in the United States.

The Fellows coming to UT are:

AUSTIN — Astronomer Stella Offner of The University of Texas at Austin has been awarded the NCU-Delta Young Astronomer Lectureship Award by Taiwan’s National Central University and the Delta Electronics Foundation.

Each year, the award is given to one or two international scholars under the age of 45. It includes an invitation to deliver a series of prize lectures in Taiwan and a trophy. Representatives from Delta Electronics presented the award to Offner in Austin yesterday.

Renowned engineering and architecture firm, IDOM, faces rigorous design requirements of the Giant Magellan Telescope’s enclosure to allow for unobstructed observations of the night sky.

Brendan Bowler, an assistant professor of astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin, has been selected as a 2022 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in Physics.

Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded yearly to early career researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field. The fellowships honor outstanding scientists who specialize in one of seven scientific and technical fields — chemistry, computer science, Earth system science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience or physics.

FORT DAVIS, Texas — After more than three decades of sharing astronomy with the public and working to protect dark skies from light pollution, Bill Wren has retired from McDonald Observatory.

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.