Astronomers Disprove Planet Orbiting Nearby Barnard’s Star

Astronomers Disprove Planet Orbiting Nearby Barnard’s Star

FORT DAVIS, Texas — Astronomers are announcing today that they have disproved a 2018-announced planet orbiting Barnard’s Star, the second-closest star to our Sun. The findings, based on observations with the Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HPF) instrument on the 10-meter Hobby-Eberly Telescope at The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory, have been accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal.

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You Can Help Decode the Universe!

You Can Help Decode the Universe!

Would you like to help astronomers understand more about the universe? McDonald Observatory astronomers are trying to learn more about dark energy — the mysterious force causing the universe to expand faster and faster over time. And now there is a fun and easy way anyone can help with their research, using a smartphone or computer.

Launched in February, Dark Energy Explorers uses the Zooniverse platform, the largest citizen science organization in the world. Users participate via the Zooniverse website or the Zooniverse smartphone app.

Exoplanet is Gobbling Up Gas and Dust as it Continues to Build Mass

Exoplanet Gobbles Up Gas and Dust as it Continues to Build Mass

AUSTIN — The Hubble Space Telescope has allowed astronomers from The University of Texas at Austin to get a rare look at a young, Jupiter-sized planet that is growing by feeding off material surrounding a young star 370 light-years from Earth.

“We just don’t know very much about how giant planets grow,” said Brendan Bowler, an assistant professor of astronomy at UT Austin. “This planetary system gives us the first opportunity to witness material falling onto a planet. Our results open up a new area for this research.”

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Texas Astronomers Lead Major Projects in James Webb Space Telescope’s First Year

UT Astronomers Lead Major Projects in Webb Telescope's First Year

AUSTIN — 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 will become operational by mid-2022. Altogether, UT astronomers received about 500 hours of telescope time in JWST’s first year.

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Anita Cochran Named Fellow of American Astronomical Society

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 2021.

Cochran was honored for her research addressing the molecular composition and structure of comets and her decades of service to the astronomical community.

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HETDEX Project On Track to Probe Dark Energy

HETDEX Project On Track to Probe Dark Energy

FORT DAVIS, Texas — 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 million galaxies that will help astronomers understand how and why the expansion of the universe is speeding up over time.

Texas Astronomers Revive Idea for ‘Ultimately Large Telescope’ on the Moon

An 'Ultimately Large Telescope' on the Moon

New Science Driver is Study of Universe’s First Stars

AUSTIN — 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 stars in the universe. The team, led by NASA Hubble Fellow Anna Schauer, will publish their results in an upcoming issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

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