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Astronomy and Astrophysics

December 14, 2015
Exoplanet atmospheres range from clear to cloudy in survey of 'hot Jupiters'
A survey of Jupiter-sized exoplanets reveals why some of these worlds appear to have less water than expected.
December 01, 2015
UC Santa Cruz hosts international summer program on exoplanetary atmospheres
The 2016 Kavli Summer Program in Astrophysics will focus on 'Exoplanetary Atmospheres.'
October 22, 2015
Astrophysicist Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz to participate in new research initiative
Fellows chosen for a "Time Domain Astrophysics" Scialog initiative include six with UC Santa Cruz connections.
October 21, 2015
How a black hole swallows a star: new observations confirm theory
New details about what happens when a black hole tears apart a star have been gathered by x-ray telescopes.
October 19, 2015
Big ideas
From saving falcons to peering into the universe, sequencing the human genome, and putting organic food on American tables, UC Santa Cruz has become known as the small university where big things happen.
September 10, 2015
Study finds different ways for a black hole to swallow a star
When a star passes too close to a dormant supermassive black hole, it gets torn apart by tidal forces.
September 08, 2015
Astronomy alumni join Chancellor Blumenthal in panel discussion Sept. 26
Three distinguished alumni and a current grad student join Chancellor Blumenthal to discuss astronomy, space, and discovery
August 24, 2015
Astronomer Claire Max appointed director of UC Observatories
UC President Janet Napolitano has appointed UC Santa Cruz astronomer Claire Max as director of UC Observatories.
August 13, 2015
Astronomers use new instrument to discover young Jupiter-like planet
Five UC Santa Cruz astronomers were involved in the first planet discovery by the Gemini Planet Imager.
August 04, 2015
Astrophysicist Piero Madau awarded prestigious international research chair
Piero Madau, distinguished professor of astronomy and astrophysics, has been appointed to an International Blaise Pascal Research Chair.
July 23, 2015
Warhol Foundation grant goes to Institute of the Arts and Sciences project
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has awarded a $30,000 grant to support an innovative artist residency and exhibition developed by the Institute of the Arts and Sciences (IAS) at UC Santa Cruz and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in San Jose--in collaboration with the UC Lick Observatory.
July 09, 2015
Astronomer Douglas N.C. Lin receives prestigious Bruce Gold Medal
Lin will receive the 2015 Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
May 28, 2015
Robert P. Kraft, eminent astronomer and former director of UC Observatories, dies at age 87
Kraft was a widely recognized researcher and a gifted administrator who helped guide astronomy into the modern era.
May 14, 2015
Against all odds: Astronomers baffled by discovery of rare quasar quartet
Astronomers discovered four quasars, each one a rare object in its own right, in close physical proximity to each other.
May 08, 2015
Astrophysicist Piero Madau inducted into Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars
Piero Madau, distinguished professor of astronomy and astrophysics, was honored for achieving marked distinction in the physical sciences.
May 06, 2015
Spreading science education, one telescope at a time
UC Santa Cruz grad student Tuguldur Sukhbold is using grant money to bring telescopes to schools in Mongolia so that science-starved kids might be exposed to the wonders of the universe.
May 05, 2015
Astronomers set a new distance record for galaxies
Astronomers have pushed back the cosmic frontier of galaxy exploration to a time when the universe was only 5 percent of its present age.
April 29, 2015
Cosmologist Robert Kirshner explores accelerating universe in public talk on May 13
Kirshner's talk, "The Accelerating Universe: Einstein's Blunder Undone," is free and open to the public.
April 21, 2015
UC Santa Cruz part of NASA coalition leading search for life on distant worlds
Astrophysicist Jonathan Fortney is one of 15 principal investigators for a new NASA initiative searching for life on planets around other stars.
March 26, 2015
Evening concerts and rare telescope viewings draw visitors to UC’s Lick Observatory
For 35 years the Summer Series program at UC's Lick Observatory has drawn concert fans and astronomy devotees to the summit of Mt. Hamilton.
March 23, 2015
Wandering Jupiter accounts for our unusual solar system
Jupiter swept clear the inner solar system, resulting in the formation of a planetary system unlike any other astronomers have yet found
March 23, 2015
Search for extraterrestrial intelligence expands at Lick Observatory
Astronomers are expanding the search for extraterrestrial intelligence into a new realm with detectors tuned to infrared light.
March 10, 2015
UC Santa Cruz professor aims to expand science internships for high school students
Astronomer Puragra GuhaThakurta will use a sabbatical at Google to expand and diversify the Science Internship Program.
March 02, 2015
Astrophysicist Ken Chen wins award for high impact scientific achievement
Postdoctoral researcher Ken Chen was honored in the early career category of the 2015 High Performance Computing Achievement Awards.
February 10, 2015
Google gives Lick Observatory $1 million
Google Inc. has given $1 million to support the University of California's Lick Observatory.
January 16, 2015
UC Santa Cruz astronomer Claire Max recognized for astronomical instrumentation
The American Astronomical Society awarded the Joseph Weber Award for Astronomical Instrumentation to UC Observatories director Claire Max.
January 08, 2015
Study of Andromeda's stellar disk indicates more violent history than Milky Way
Disordered stellar populations suggest bombardment of our neighboring galaxy Andromeda by smaller galaxies