Posts by McDonald Observatory
January 9, 2012
New Instrument Peers Through the Heart of the Milky Way
Astronomy has a powerful new tool to probe the structure of our galaxy. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) spectrograph is the newest instrument deployed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III). McDonald Observatory astronomer Matthew Shetrone […]
January 9, 2012
Mirror Casting Event for the Giant Magellan Telescope on January 14
On Jan. 14, the second 8.4-meter (27.6 ft) diameter mirror for the Giant Magellan Telescope, or GMT, will be cast inside a rotating furnace at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory Mirror Lab underneath the campus football stadium. The mirror lab will host […]
December 5, 2011
NASA Mission, Texas Astronomers Collaborate to Find ‘Goldilocks’ Planet, Others
This morning NASA announced the discovery of the first planet located in the “habitable zone” around a star — the “just-right” orbit that’s not too hot, nor too cold for water to exist in liquid form, making life as we […]
December 5, 2011
Pair of Black Holes ‘Weigh In’ at 10 Billion Suns; Most Massive Yet
A team of astronomers including Karl Gebhardt and graduate student Jeremy Murphy of The University of Texas at Austin have discovered the most massive black holes to date — two monsters weighing as much as 10 billion suns and threatening […]
November 30, 2011
Cosmic Explosion Explained Just in Time for Christmas
An explosion far across the universe rattled astronomers last year on Christmas Day. Called a gamma-ray burst (GRB), it incited a flurry of activity from telescopes in space and on the ground, including the 2.1-meter Otto Struve Telescope at The […]
November 8, 2011
UT Austin Astronomer Dodson-Robinson Receives Prestigious Career Grant from NSF
University of Texas at Austin Assistant Professor Sally Dodson-Robinson has received a Faculty Early Career Development award of $363,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). These prestigious NSF awards, called CAREER grants, recognize promising young faculty members and support their […]
October 4, 2011
University of Texas-led Team Discovers Unusual Multi-Planet System with NASA’s Kepler Spacecraft
A team of researchers led by Bill Cochran of The University of Texas at Austin has used NASA’s Kepler spacecraft to discover an unusual multiple-planet system containing a super-Earth and two Neptune-sized planets orbiting in resonance with each other. They will announce […]
July 13, 2011
Astronomers Discover Stars Locked in Fatalistic Dance
Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory have discovered a pair of burnt-out stars spiraling into one another at breakneck speeds. Orbiting each other in just 13 minutes, they will merge and […]
July 6, 2011
Universo Radio Program to Cease Regular Production
The Spanish-language astronomy radio program Universo which has brought the heavens closer to millions of listeners for more than 15 years will cease regular production this month due to funding constraints. Produced by The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald […]
June 30, 2011
The New York Times Knowledge Network, Texas Education Agency, and McDonald Observatory Add Astronomy Content to Project Share Online Teachers Community
The New York Times Knowledge Network and The Texas Education Agency (TEA), in collaboration with the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, announced today the addition of astronomy content to the Project Share online teaching community. StarDate, the public education and outreach arm of The University […]
March 29, 2011
AAS Division on Dynamical Astronomy Meets in Austin April 11-14
Astronomers from around the country and the world are convening in Austin April 11-14 for the American Astronomical Society’s Division on Dynamical Astronomy meeting. The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol. Free registration is […]
March 28, 2011
Texas Astronomers Find Super-luminous Supernova, Follow up with Fleet of Telescopes in Space, on Earth
Astronomers led by graduate student Emmanouil “Manos” Chatzopoulos and Dr. J. Craig Wheeler of The University of Texas at Austin have found another extremely bright, rare supernova to add to the new class of exploding stars that University of Texas […]
March 22, 2011
Visit McDonald Observatory’s Open House Saturday, April 9
Come enjoy an Open House at McDonald Observatory on Saturday, April 9. The day of family-friendly events runs from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., and includes tours of large research telescopes, science talks, a star party and other telescope viewings. […]
March 2, 2011
Buckyballs, Largest Known Molecules, More Common in Space Than Thought
Observations made with NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have provided surprises concerning the presence of buckminsterfullerenes, or “buckyballs,” the largest known molecules in space. A study of R Coronae Borealis stars by David L. Lambert, Director of The University of Texas […]
February 17, 2011
Students Link with McDonald Observatory at Blakemore Planetarium Feb. 24
Twenty-eight Midland High School students will explore The University ofTexas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory and the wonders of the cosmos next Thursday when they visit Blakemore Planetarium at the Museum of the Southwest with their teacher John Jeffries. The event […]