Posts by McDonald Observatory
April 19, 2021
Texas Astronomers Lead Major Projects in James Webb Space Telescope’s First Year
Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin are set to lead some of the largest programs in the first year of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), including the largest project overall. Set to launch this Halloween, the telescope […]
March 31, 2021
McDonald Observatory Honors Local Businesses, Organizations for Night Sky Friendly Lighting
Just in time for International Dark Skies Week (April 5-12), McDonald Observatory is announcing a new program to honor West Texas businesses and organizations for Night Skies Friendly Lighting practices. These practices keep light on the ground and out of […]
March 5, 2021
Sixth Mirror Cast for Giant Magellan Telescope
The University of Texas at Austin and other partners of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) announce the fabrication of the sixth of seven of the world’s largest monolithic mirrors. These mirrors will allow astronomers to see farther into the universe […]
February 3, 2021
Anita Cochran Named Fellow of American Astronomical Society
The American Astronomical Society (AAS), the major organization of professional astronomers in North America, has honored Dr. Anita Cochran, Assistant Director of McDonald Observatory and Senior Research Scientist, for extraordinary achievement and service by naming her an AAS Fellow for […]
December 1, 2020
HETDEX Project On Track to Probe Dark Energy
Three years into its quest to reveal the nature of dark energy, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) is on track to complete the largest map of the cosmos ever. The team will create a three-dimensional map of 2.5 […]
November 20, 2020
McDonald Observatory Visitors Center Temporarily Closed, But Virtual Programs Continue
Due to COVID-19 mitigation efforts, the McDonald Observatory Frank N. Bash Visitors Center will be closed from November 21st through at least December 7th. In commitment to the health and safety of our staff, visitors, and community, we encourage everyone to […]
November 16, 2020
Texas Astronomers Revive Idea for ‘Ultimately Large Telescope’ on the Moon
A group of astronomers from The University of Texas at Austin has found that a telescope idea shelved by NASA a decade ago can solve a problem that no other telescope can: It would be able to study the first […]
September 16, 2020
Major NSF Grant Accelerates Development for the Giant Magellan Telescope
The GMTO Corporation has received a $17.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to accelerate the prototyping and testing of some of the most powerful optical and infrared technologies ever engineered. These crucial advancements for the Giant Magellan Telescope […]
September 16, 2020
Planet Hugging a White Dwarf May Be a Survivor of Star’s Death Throes
An international team of astronomers has used NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and retired Spitzer Space Telescope to discover what may be the first intact planet found closely orbiting a white dwarf, the dense leftover of a sun-like star […]
August 19, 2020
McDonald Observatory Will Reopen to the Public Aug. 28
The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory is planning to reopen to the public, in a limited fashion, on Friday, Aug. 28. Beginning with a star party that night, the observatory’s Frank N. Bash Visitors Center will begin holding […]
August 4, 2020
A Young Sub-Neptune-sized Planet Sheds Light onto How Planets Form and Evolve
A team of astronomers including McDonald Observatory’s Bill Cochran have made a detailed study of a young planet slightly smaller than Neptune with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder at The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory. They characterized the planet’s […]
July 28, 2020
Studying Radioactive Aluminum in Solar Systems Unlocks Formation Secrets
An international team of astronomers including Stella Offner of The University of Texas at Austin has proposed a new method for the formation of aluminum-26 in star systems that are forming planets. Because its radioactive decay is thought to provide […]
July 9, 2020
The Universe Doesn’t Stop for the Pandemic
Under one of the darkest skies in the world, in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, a telescope operator at the McDonald Observatory walks alone under the bright stars toward the massive Hobby-Eberly Telescope. Sitting inside the dome and communicating […]
June 22, 2020
Young Giant Planet Offers Clues to Formation of Exotic Worlds
Jupiter-size planets orbiting close to their stars have upended ideas about how giant planets form. Finding young members of this planet class could help answer key questions. For most of human history our understanding of how planets form and evolve […]
June 2, 2020
New Tricks from Old Data: Texas Astronomer Uses 25-year-old Hubble Data to Confirm Planet Proxima Centauri c
Fritz Benedict has used data he took over two decades ago with Hubble Space Telescope to confirm the existence of another planet around the Sun’s nearest neighbor, Proxima Centauri, and to pin down the planet’s orbit and mass. Benedict, an […]
May 29, 2020
University Welcomes New Center for Planetary Systems Habitability
Scientists from across The University of Texas at Austin are joining forces in the hunt for life on other planets. Astronomers, geoscientists, chemists, biologists and aerospace engineers have pooled resources to form the UT Center for Planetary Systems Habitability, a […]