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Astronomy and Astrophysics

November 29, 2023
2023 list of most highly cited researchers includes 18 UC Santa Cruz scientists and engineers
In a notable recognition of scholarly achievement, 18 scientists and engineers from UC Santa Cruz have earned a spot on the 2023 Highly Cited Researchers list, recently unveiled by Clarivate.
November 28, 2023
Dwarf planet Eris is squishier than expected
University of California, Santa Cruz Professor of Planetary Sciences Francis Nimmo recently co-authored a Science Advances paper about the internal structure of the dwarf planet Eris.
November 22, 2023
NASA’s Webb Identifies Methane In an Exoplanet’s Atmosphere
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed the exoplanet WASP-80 b as it passed in front of and behind its host star, revealing spectra indicative of an atmosphere containing methane gas and water vapor.
November 16, 2023
World-renowned supernova expert honored for breakthrough contributions to astronomy
Mark Phillips received the Alumni Achievement Award on Oct. 27, 2023, for his pioneering supernova research that led to the reversal of a major scientific theory on the trajectory of the universe, and for the indelible legacy he has left for aspiring astronomers.
October 19, 2023
Record-breaking fast radio burst is most distant ever detected
Scientists have discovered an eight-billion-year-old fast radio burst (FRB) – the most ancient and distant located to date.
September 11, 2023
2023 ARCS Foundation scholarships support UCSC graduate students in the sciences and engineering
Sixteen UC Santa Cruz graduate students have received scholarships worth a total of $175,000 from the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation for the 2023-24 academic year.
July 21, 2023
Celebrating the success of a human-centered approach to supporting emerging scientists
Graduate school admissions, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship awards, and American Astronomical Society honors mark a banner year for UCSC's Lamat Institute.
June 28, 2023
UCSC’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience awards over $4.6 million to support California coastal projects
The UCSC Center for Coastal Climate Resilience has awarded over $4.6 million in funding to 23 UC Santa Cruz research groups for pilot projects and implementation projects supporting efforts to fight climate change in coastal communities across California and beyond. Funds for these grant programs came from the California State Budget Act of 2022-23.
May 31, 2023
Astronomers map temperatures and find traces of water in a super-hot gas giant’s atmosphere
Astronomers used the Webb Telescope to make a temperature map of the “hot Jupiter” exoplanet WASP-18b, revealing dramatic temperature gradients in its atmosphere.
May 16, 2023
Summer programs draw visitors to Lick Observatory for music and stargazing
The Summer Series program at UC's Lick Observatory draws concert fans and astronomy devotees to the summit of Mt. Hamilton for live music, evening astronomy lectures from world-renowned scientists, and the opportunity to view celestial objects through historic telescopes.
May 15, 2023
Astronomers observe the first radiation belt seen outside of our solar system
High-resolution imaging of radio emissions from an ultracool dwarf show a double-lobed structure like the radiation belts of Jupiter.
April 03, 2023
Big Questions: Astronomer Father and Artist Daughter
An astrophysicist, musician, mentor, and inspiration, Bill Mathews died in September 2021. His daughter, Amey Mathews, began drawing portraits of him in his memory.
April 03, 2023
NASA’s search for life in the cosmos is focus of April 17 lecture and discussion
‘Whispers from Other Worlds,’ a public lecture and discussion at the Rio Theater, features NASA’s Thomas Zurbuchen and science journalist Nadia Drake.
March 22, 2023
JWST’s first direct spectrum of planetary-mass object reveals dynamic atmosphere
The most detailed spectrum ever for a planetary-mass object outside our solar system covers an unprecedented range of wavelengths, providing a wealth of new insights.
March 15, 2023
Young Supernova Experiment releases first set of transient survey data
UC Santa Cruz astronomers organized the survey, which has discovered thousands of cosmic explosions and other transient events of interest to astronomers and astrophysicists.
March 09, 2023
First images released from James Webb Space Telescope’s largest general observer program
Mosaic images from the COSMOS-Web program offer a treasure trove of early galaxies, including dazzling examples of spiral galaxies, gravitational lensing, and evidence of galaxy mergers.
March 03, 2023
Astrophysicist Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz wins 2023 AAAS Mentor Award
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has awarded the 2023 AAAS Mentor Award to Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz.
February 21, 2023
Major expansion of Lick Observatory education programs will benefit Bay Area students
Scientific Teaching through Astronomy Research (STARs), a suite of new outreach and education programs at UC’s Lick Observatory, will reach a diverse population of K-12 and college-age students.
February 02, 2023
Astronomers observe light bending around an isolated white dwarf
The first detection of gravitational lensing for a single, isolated star other than our sun comes 100 years after a landmark experiment using the sun to confirm Einstein’s prediction.
January 16, 2023
Study finds active galactic nuclei are even more powerful than thought
A new study indicates that scientists have substantially underestimated the energy output of active galactic nuclei powered by supermassive black holes because their light is dimmed by dust.
January 09, 2023
Astronomers find the most distant stars in our galaxy halfway to Andromeda
A search for variable stars called RR Lyrae has found some of the most distant stars in the Milky Way’s halo a million light years away.