JWST Awards 148 Hours Observing Time to University of Texas Astronomer

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has awarded 148 hours of observing time to a group of scientists led by John Chisholm, assistant professor of astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin. He is co-principal investigator on the selected proposal, along with Hakim Atek at the Institut D'Astrophysique de Paris. “That’s over six days on the telescope,” says Chisholm. And only one hour less than the proposal that was awarded the most amount of time.

Link: 
https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/20230719

Chemical Cartography Reveals the Milky Way’s Spiral Arms

Keith Hawkins, assistant professor of astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin, has used chemical cartography – also known as chemical mapping – to identify regions of the Milky Way’s spiral arms that have previously gone undetected. His research, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, demonstrates the value of this pioneering technique in understanding the shape, structure, and evolution of our home Galaxy.

Link: 
https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/20230713

First Images from JWST’s Largest General Observer Program

This first snapshot of COSMOS-Web contains about 25,000 galaxies — an astonishing number larger than even what sits in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field,” said Caitlin Casey, associate professor of astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin and co-principal investigator of COSMOS-Web.

Link: 
https://cns.utexas.edu/news/research/first-images-jwsts-largest-general-observer-program

Hubble Study Challenges 'Cosmic Fireworks' as Largest Driver of Galaxy Evolution

'Cosmic Fireworks' May Not be Largest Driver of Galaxy Evolution

AUSTIN — A Hubble Space Telescope study of massive galaxies two to three billion years after the Big Bang has uncovered two remarkable results that
challenge the common lore that major mergers play a dominant role in growing galaxies over a wide range of cosmic epochs.

Dramatic Transformation of Massive Galaxies over 10 Billion Years
Comparison of Massive Galaxies at Early Times vs. Today
Major Merger
Section: 
News

University of Texas-led Team Discovers Unusual Multi-Planet System with NASA's Kepler Spacecraft

NANTES, France — A team of researchers led by Bill Cochran of The University of Texas at Austin has used NASA’s Kepler spacecraft to discover an unusual multiple-planet system containing a super-Earth and two Neptune-sized planets orbiting in resonance with each other. They will announce the find today in Nantes, France at a joint meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Division of Planetary Science and the European Planetary Science Conference.

Kepler-18
Bill Cochran

University of Texas-led Team Discovers Unusual Multi-Planet System with NASA's Kepler Spacecraft

NANTES, France — A team of researchers led by Bill Cochran of The University of Texas at Austin has used NASA’s Kepler spacecraft to discover an unusual multiple-planet system containing a super-Earth and two Neptune-sized planets orbiting in resonance with each other. They will announce the find today in Nantes, France at a joint meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Division of Planetary Science and the European Planetary Science Conference.

Astronomers Discover Stars Locked in Fatalistic Dance

FORT DAVIS, Texas —Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory have discovered a pair of burnt-out stars spiraling into one another at breakneck speeds. Orbiting each other in just 13 minutes, they will merge and possibly explode as a supernova in about 900,000 years. By watching them over time, scientists will test both Einstein’s theory of general relativity and the origin of some peculiar supernovae.

Binary White Dwarf
Otto Struve Telescope, Dome

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