Two New Planets Discovered Using Artificial Intelligence

Two New Planets Discovered Using Artificial Intelligence

AUSTIN, Texas — Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin, in partnership with Google, have used artificial intelligence (AI) to uncover two more hidden planets in the Kepler space telescope archive. The technique shows promise for identifying many additional planets that traditional methods could not catch.

The planets discovered this time were from Kepler’s extended mission, called K2.

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Habitable Zone Planet Finder Enables Discovery of Planets Around Cool Stars with Hobby-Eberly Telescope

New HET Instrument Enables Discovery of Planets Around Cool Stars

FORT DAVIS, Texas — A new astronomical spectrograph provides the highest precision measurements to date of infrared signals from nearby stars, allowing astronomers to detect planets capable of having liquid water on their surfaces that orbit cool stars outside our solar system. The Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HPF) allows precise measurement of a star’s radial velocity, measured by the subtle change in the color of the star’s spectra as it is tugged by an orbiting planet, which is critical information in the discovery and confirmation of new planets.

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Thousands of Stars Observed Turning into Crystals for the First Time

Stars Observed Turning into Crystals for the First Time

AUSTIN, Texas — The first direct evidence of crystallized white dwarf stars has been discovered by an international team of researchers that includes an astronomer at The University of Texas at Austin. Predicted half a century ago, the direct evidence of these stars will be published tomorrow in the journal Nature.

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J. Craig Wheeler Shares Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award

J. Craig Wheeler Shares Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award

Seattle — The American Astronomical Society (AAS) announced today at its semi-annual meeting in Seattle that J. Craig Wheeler and David Branch will share its Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award for 2019. Wheeler is the Samuel T. and Fern Yanagisawa Regents Professor of Astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin.

Wheeler and Branch, an emeritus professor at The University of Oklahoma, are the authors of the university-level textbook “Supernova Explosions,” published by Springer in 2017.

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StarDate Radio Program Celebrates 40 Years

StarDate Radio Program Celebrates 40 Years

The longest running nationally aired science program is marking a major milestone. “StarDate”  radio, produced by The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory, celebrates 40 years on the nation’s airwaves. In its nearly 15,000 daily two-minute episodes, “StarDate” has brought skywatching and astronomy to millions of listeners across the United States. Today, it airs on about 400 radio affiliates, split evenly between public and commercial stations.

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Magnetic Waves Create Chaos in Star-Forming Clouds

Magnetic Waves Create Chaos in Star-Forming Clouds

New research by Stella Offner, assistant professor of astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin, finds that magnetic waves are an important factor driving the process of star formation within the enormous clouds that birth stars. Her research sheds light on the processes that are responsible for setting the properties of stars, which in turn affects the formation of planets orbiting them, and, ultimately, life on those planets. The research is published in the current issue of the journal Nature Astronomy.

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Galactic “Wind” Stifling Star Formation is Most Distant Yet Seen

Galactic “Wind” Stifling Star Formation is Most Distant Yet Seen

AUSTIN, Texas — For the first time, a powerful “wind” of molecules has been detected in a galaxy located 12 billion light-years away. Probing a time when the universe was less than 10 percent of its current age, University of Texas at Austin astronomer Justin Spilker’s research sheds light on how the earliest galaxies regulated the birth of stars to keep from blowing themselves apart. The research will appear in the Sept. 7 issue of the journal Science.

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New Geodetic Observatory Coming to UT Austin’s McDonald Observatory

New Geodetic Observatory Coming to McDonald

FORT DAVIS, Texas — A new scientific facility is under construction on the grounds of The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory that will help scientists better understand Earth and could help minimize the effects of geohazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, sea level changes and landslides.

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Excavation Begins on Giant Magellan Telescope Site in Chile

Excavation Begins on GMT Site in Chile

The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory today shared in announcing the start of hard rock excavation for the Giant Magellan Telescope’s (GMT’s) massive concrete pier and the foundations for the telescope’s enclosure on its site at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. McDonald Observatory is a founding partner of the international collaboration building the GMT, which will be the world’s largest telescope when completed in the next decade.

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