Posts by McDonald Observatory
November 25, 2008
Universo Radio Program Airs 5,000th Episode, Brings Astronomy & Skylore to Spanish-Speaking Audience
On December 7, radio stations across the United States, Mexico, and Central America will broadcast the 5,000th episode of Universo to its 2.22 million listeners nationally and internationally. The daily, two-minute Spanish-language radio program from The University of Texas at Austin McDonald […]
November 19, 2008
Scientists Discover New Planet Orbiting Dangerously Close to Giant Star
A team of astronomers from Penn State and Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland has discovered a new planet that is closely orbiting a red-giant star, HD 102272, which is much more evolved than our own Sun. The planet has a […]
November 5, 2008
Galactic Luminaries to Converge on University of Texas Tuesday
More than 130 astronomers from nearly a dozen countries and more than 30 institutions will meet in Austin next week to brainstorm about the evolution of galaxies — those vast cities of billions of stars that are the “bricks” making […]
October 22, 2008
Astronomers Quimby, Wheeler Win Hyer Award from American Physical Society’s Texas Section
Recent University of Texas at Austin doctoral graduate Robert Quimby of the California Institute of Technology and his adviser, University of Texas at Austin astronomy professor J. Craig Wheeler, have won the Hyer Award from the Texas Section of the […]
September 19, 2008
Astronomers Discover Key Molecule for Life Floating in Space Between the Stars
A team of scientists led by researchers from the Instituto Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and including University of Texas at Austin astronomer David L. Lambert has succeeded in detecting naphthalene, one of the most complex molecules yet discovered in the […]
July 21, 2008
Advertising Students Practice Real-Word Campaigning; Compete to Aid UT Astronomy Program
This summer, the UT Astronomy Program served as a client for undergraduate students taking an advertising class called “Integrated Communications Campaigns” from UT College of Communication Assistant Professor Yongjun Sung. The students were divided into six groups, each forming a […]
June 2, 2008
Grant Funds Boy Scout Program, More, at McDonald Observatory
A $15,000 grant from Mr. Harry E. Bovay, Jr. of Houston, Mr. Lowell Lebermann of Austin, and Ms. Virginia Lebermann of Marfa, will help Texas Boy Scouts learn the wonders of the night sky at McDonald Observatory starting next week. […]
May 7, 2008
Recent Texas PhD Awarded Prize for Outstanding Dissertation in Astronomy
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific has announced that Anjum Mukadam will receive the 2008 Robert J. Trumpler Award. The award is given each year to a recent PhD graduate in North America whose research is considered unusually important to […]
May 1, 2008
McDonald Observatory Astronomers Discover New Type of Pulsating White Dwarf Star
University of Texas at Austin astronomers Michael H. Montgomery and Kurtis A. Williams, along with graduate student Steven DeGennaro, have predicted and confirmed the existence of a new type of variable star with the help of the 2.1-meter Otto Struve […]
April 22, 2008
Award-winning, Solar-powered House Built by University of Texas Students Comes to McDonald Observatory
It’s Earth Day, and McDonald Observatory is preparing to add a new eco-friendly facility: the award-winning, solar-powered “BLOOMhouse.” Students in The University of Texas at Austin’s School of Architecture designed and built the BLOOMhouse to compete in last year’s Solar […]
April 15, 2008
Presidents of Texas’ Two Flagship Universities Powell and Murano, Philanthropist Mitchell Encourage Texans to Support Telescope Project
The presidents of Texas’ two flagship universities, William Powers Jr. of The University of Texas at Austin and Elsa A. Murano of Texas A&M University, joined philanthropist George P. Mitchell in Houston Friday to generate state-wide support for the Giant […]
April 2, 2008
Astronomers Find Suspected Medium-Sized Black Hole in Omega Centauri
A well-known star cluster that glitters with the light of millions of stars may have a mysterious dark object tugging at its core, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. Astronomer Karl Gebhardt has teamed up with […]
February 7, 2008
McDonald Observatory Receives $190,000 NASA Grant; Will Train Texas Elementary, Middle School Teachers in Science Education
The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory has been awarded a grant of about $190,000 from NASA to train teachers across the state in science education. The project will develop, test and implement professional development workshops for 500 Texas […]
January 10, 2008
New Instrument, Telescope Upgrades Enable Pioneering Dark Energy Experiment at McDonald Observatory
An experiment to determine the nature of “dark energy,” that mysterious force that’s causing the universe’s expansion to speed up, is driving telescope upgrades and the creation of new instruments at McDonald Observatory in West Texas. The exciting science results […]
January 9, 2008
Study of ‘GEMS’ from Hubble, Spitzer Space Telescopes Reveals Cosmic Fireworks Fizzled Out at Universe Reached Mid-Life
We all start to party less around middle age, and new studies by a team led by University of Texas at Austin astronomer Shardha Jogee now finds that the universe, as a whole, is no exception. Jogee discussed her results […]
December 5, 2007
Texas Astronomer Makes First Ground-Based Detection of Extra-Solar Planet Atmosphere with HET
University of Texas at Austin astronomer and Hubble Fellow Seth Redfield has used the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) at McDonald Observatory to make the first ground-based detection of the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system. This research has been […]