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HET with star trails

Hobby-Eberly Telescope celebrates 25 years of science

One of the world's largest optical telescopes, the Hobby-Eberly telescope (HET) at The University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory has reached a milestone — 25 years of service.

A woman wearing a gold sweater with curly black hair smiles

Postdoctoral Fellow in UT Astronomy Receives Inaugural NAS Science Communication Award

Arianna Long, a NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Texas at Austin, was awarded one of the inaugural Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communication from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 

Members of the CEERS collaboration explore the first wide, deep field image from the James Webb Space Telescope at the Texas Advanced Computing Center’s Visualization Lab on the UT Austin campus on July 21, 2022. Credit: Nolan Zunk/University of Texas at Austin.

Wide View of Early Universe Hints at Galaxy Among the Earliest Ever Detected

Two new images from JWST show what may be among the earliest galaxies ever observed. Both images include objects from more than 13 billion years ago. 

Investment from UT Austin, Other Partners Accelerates Construction of Giant Magellan Telescope

The Giant Magellan Telescope is a next-generation telescope that will yield important discoveries on topics such as galaxies in the early universe and Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby stars. The University of Texas at Austin is investing an additional $45 million in the GMT, which brings the university’s total commitment to $110.3 million.

McDonald creates world's largest International Dark Sky Reserve

McDonald Observatory, The Nature Conservancy, and the International Dark-Sky Association are pleased to announce the certification of the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve. Protecting this resource benefits not only astronomical research, but also wildlife, ecology and tourism.