Posts by McDonald Observatory
September 28, 2017
Astronomers Solve Mystery of Formation of First Supermassive Black Holes
An international team of researchers has successfully used a supercomputer simulation to recreate the formation of a massive black hole from supersonic gas streams left over from the Big Bang. The study will be published tomorrow in the journal Science, in […]
September 26, 2017
New Telescope Coming Soon to McDonald Observatory
A new 1-meter telescope is coming to The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory in the next two years. The Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) global network is expanding, and will build a second 1-meter telescope at McDonald. “McDonald Observatory […]
July 6, 2017
Hubble Space Telescope Pushed Beyond Limits to Spot Clumps of New Stars in Distant Galaxy
When it comes to the distant universe, even the keen vision of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope can only go so far. Teasing out finer details requires clever thinking and a little help from a cosmic alignment with a gravitational lens. […]
June 5, 2017
Astronomers Prove What Separates True Stars from Wannabes
Astronomer Trent Dupuy of The University of Texas at Austin has shown what separates true stars from wannabes. Not in Hollywood, but in the whole universe. He will present his research today in a news conference at the semi-annual meeting […]
May 30, 2017
Do Stars Fall Quietly into Black Holes, or Crash into Something Utterly Unknown?
Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University have put a basic principle of black holes to the test, showing that matter completely vanishes when pulled in. Their results constitute another successful test for Albert Einstein’s General […]
April 9, 2017
Upgraded Hobby-Eberly Telescope dedicated April 9; Dark energy survey, other cutting-edge science on the way
The world’s third-largest telescope, the 10-meter Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) located at McDonald Observatory in West Texas, has completed a multiyear $40 Million upgrade to enable it to take on the biggest challenges in astronomy today: unraveling the mystery of dark energy, […]
February 8, 2017
Astronomers Find Faintest Early Galaxies Yet, Probe How the Early Universe Lit Up
Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a new technique to discover the faintest galaxies yet seen in the early universe —10 times fainter than any previously seen. These galaxies will help astronomers probe a little-understood, but […]
January 24, 2017
Robert N. Shelton Selected as President of Giant Magellan Telescope Organization
The Giant Magellan Telescope Organization (GMTO) today announced the appointment of physicist Robert N. Shelton, PhD, to the position of President, effective February 20, 2017. Dr. Shelton will lead the organization behind the development of the 24.5 meter Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) which is poised […]
December 19, 2016
Famous Red Star Betelgeuse is Spinning Faster than Expected; May Have Swallowed a Companion 100,000 Years Ago
Astronomer J. Craig Wheeler of The University of Texas at Austin thinks that Betelgeuse, the bright red star marking the shoulder of Orion, the hunter, may have had a past that is more interesting than meets the eye. Working with […]
November 16, 2016
Walter E. Massey and Taft Armandroff Selected to Lead Giant Magellan Telescope Board of Directors
The Giant Magellan Telescope Organization (GMTO) today announced the appointment of Walter E. Massey, PhD, and Taft Armandroff, PhD, to the positions of Board Chair and Vice Chair, respectively. Continuing their involvement in new leadership capacities, Massey and Armandroff will […]
August 24, 2016
Astronomers Discover Rocky Planet Orbiting Nearest Star, Proxima Centauri
An international team of astronomers including Michael Endl of The University of Texas at Austin have found clear evidence of a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. The long-sought new world, called Proxima b, orbits its […]
July 6, 2016
A New Kind of Black Hole, Once a Theory, Now Firmly within Observers’ Sight
Astronomers Aaron Smith and Volker Bromm of The University of Texas at Austin, working with Avi Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, have discovered evidence for an unusual kind of black hole born extremely early in the universe. They […]
June 20, 2016
Texas Astronomer Finds Young ‘Super-Neptune,’ New Planet Offers Clues to the Origin of Close-in Exoplanets
A team of astronomers led by Andrew Mann of The University of Texas at Austin has confirmed the existence of a young planet, only 11 million years old, that orbits extremely close to its star (at 0.05 AU), with an […]
May 25, 2016
Supermassive Black Holes Cause Galactic Warming
For most of their lives, galaxies are lush environments for turning gas into stars. Until they aren’t. Over the last few billion years, a mysterious kind of “galactic warming” has turned huge numbers of galaxies into deserts devoid of fresh […]
April 6, 2016
Brendan Bowler Wins Hubble Fellowship
Astronomer Brendan Bowler of The University of Texas at Austin has been awarded a competitive Hubble Fellowship from NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), science center for the Hubble Space Telescope. “I congratulate Brendan Bowler on winning one […]