Posts by McDonald Observatory
September 10, 2013
Texas Astronomers Unravel 20-Year Dark Matter Mystery with New Computer Models
Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin believe they have discovered the answer to a 20-year debate over how the mysterious cosmic “dark matter” is distributed in small galaxies. Graduate student John Jardel and his advisor Karl Gebhardt found […]
September 2, 2013
Texas Astronomers Use ALMA to Reveal Luminous Starbirth in the Milky Way
Thanks to data detected with the ALMA radio telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, University of Texas at Austin astronomers and others were able to detect a star in formation — a protostar — that appears to be one of […]
August 22, 2013
Don Winget Receives Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award
The Board of Regents of The University of Texas System has chosen Dr. Don Winget from The University of Texas at Austin to receive a 2013 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, its highest teaching honor. The award was presented August 21 […]
July 30, 2013
Alan Y. Chow Telescope Dedicated at McDonald Observatory’s Frank N. Bash Visitors Center
The new Alan Y. Chow Telescope was dedicated July 27 at McDonald Observatory during the semi-annual meeting of the University of Texas at Austin Astronomy Program’s Board of Visitors. (A 45-minute video of the entire dedication ceremony is available here.) Rather […]
July 17, 2013
Northrop Grumman to Sponsor StarDate
Northrop Grumman, a leading global security company and NASA’s partner building the James Webb Space Telescope, will become official sponsor of the nationally syndicated StarDate radio program starting Sept. 1. StarDate is produced by The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory. […]
July 2, 2013
Mary Kay Hemenway Receives National Award for Outstanding Contributions to Public Understanding of Astronomy
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) is bestowing its 2013 Klumpke-Roberts Award for outstanding contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy to Dr. Mary Kay Hemenway of The University of Texas at Austin. Past awardees include Carl […]
June 19, 2013
Texas Astronomers Discover Pulsations in Crystalized, Dying Star
Astronomers from The University of Texas at Austin and colleagues have used the 2.1-meter Otto Struve Telescope at the university’s McDonald Observatory to discover pulsations from the crystalized remnant of a burnt-out star. The finding will allow astronomers to see […]
May 30, 2013
Science and Music Under the Stars Saturday in Marfa
Event: McDonald Observatory astronomer Matthew Shetrone and Artistic Director Keith Knopp of Yellow Barn offer insight into the science and art behind popular and classical music in an afternoon presentation followed by a discussion. In the late evening, Yellow Barn percussionists […]
May 9, 2013
Paul Shapiro Elected to Chair the American Physical Society Division of Astrophysics
Paul R. Shapiro, the Frank N. Edmonds, Jr., Regents Professor in Astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin, has been elected to a four-year term to the Chair line of the Division of Astrophysics of the American Physical Society. […]
April 23, 2013
Texas House, Senate Honor McDonald Observatory for 75 Years of Excellence
Today, the Texas House of Representatives and Senate will honor The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory for 75 years of discovery. The observatory’s 75th anniversary is coming up in May 2014. A proclamation sponsored by State Representative Poncho […]
January 23, 2013
Sally Dodson-Robinson Wins Annie Jump Cannon Award
The American Astronomical Society has awarded Sally Dodson-Robinson, assistant professor of astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin, its Annie Jump Cannon Award for outstanding research and promise for future research by a woman. The prize was awarded at […]
January 7, 2013
Exocomets May be as Common as Exoplanets
Comets trailing wispy tails across the night sky are a beautiful byproduct of our solar system’s formation, icy leftovers from 4.6 billion years ago when the planets coalesced from rocky rubble. The discovery by astronomers at the University of California, […]
November 29, 2012
Neal Evans Named Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Seven faculty members at The University of Texas at Austin, including Dr. Neal Evans II of the Astronomy Department, have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Fellows are chosen annually by their peers to recognize […]
November 28, 2012
Texas Astronomers Measure Most Massive, Most Unusual Black Hole Using Hobby-Eberly Telescope
Astronomers have used the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory to measure the mass of what may be the most massive black hole yet — 17 billion Suns — in galaxy NGC 1277. The unusual […]
October 25, 2012
The White Widow Model: A New Scenario for the Birth of Type Ia Supernovae
J. Craig Wheeler has studied the exploding stars called supernovae for more than four decades. Now he has a new idea on the identity of the “parents” of one of the most important types of supernovae — the Type Ia, […]
October 23, 2012
World’s Most Advanced Mirror for Giant Telescope Completed
The first mirror for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), a major next-generation telescope in which The University of Texas at Austin is a founding partner, is now completed. Becoming operational in the next decade under dark southern-hemisphere skies, GMT will […]