The Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory welcomed the Board of Visitors to The University of Texas at Austin campus on March 6-7 for its annual winter meeting. Over the course of two days, 130 BOV members joined science leaders, faculty, and students for an exploration of the cutting-edge science currently underway at UT Austin and the new windows it is opening to our universe.

Astronomers with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX), have used data from the project to make the largest, most accurate 3D map yet of the light emitted by excited hydrogen in the early universe, 9 billion to 11 billion years ago. This specific form of light, called Lyman alpha, is emitted in large quantities when hydrogen atoms are exposed to a star’s energy. That makes it a great tool for finding bright galaxies in this far-off time, which experienced a rash of star creation.

By Emily Howard

Rapid observations with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) have revealed the explosive death of a star just as the blast was breaking through the star’s surface. For the first time, astronomers unveiled the shape of the explosion at its earliest, fleeting stage. This brief initial phase wouldn’t have been observable a day later and helps address a whole set of questions about how massive stars go supernova.

The GMTO Corporation, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit and international consortium building the Giant Magellan Telescope, today announced a leadership transition on its Board of Directors. After nearly a decade of leadership as chair, Walter Massey is retiring. The board has elected McDonald Observatory Director Taft Armandroff as its new chair and Nobel Laureate Brian Schmidt as vice chair.

By Emily Howard

Small and unassuming, Segue 1 is a nearby dwarf galaxy containing only a handful of stars – too few to provide the gravity needed to keep itself from scattering into space. Like other dwarf galaxies, it was long believed that gravity from a mysterious substance called dark matter was the main binding force.

Peering into the universe’s dark, hazy cosmos to catch the first glimpses of infant stars has long challenged astronomers. The cloud of dense gas and dust that gives rise to these stellar embryos also conceals them.

By Emily Howard

Adapted by Emily Howard

Today, a team of researchers, including those at McDonald Observatory, has announced the first significant detection of phosphine in the atmosphere of a cool brown dwarf named Wolf 1130C. With the discovery, astronomers are a step closer to understanding the processes behind how this molecule – an important marker for life - forms. They are also left scratching their heads as to why they haven’t yet detected it in other, similar objects.