Astronomy & Astrophysics
-

Astrophysicist Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz gives TED talk at National Academy of Sciences
Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, professor of astronomy and astrophysics, is among a select group of scientists who delivered TED talks at the National Academy of Sciences in November.
-

Composition of gas giant planets not determined by host star, study finds
Research led by astronomers at UC Santa Cruz and Carnegie Institution for Science has implications for understanding how planets form.
-

Simulations explain giant exoplanets with eccentric, close-in orbits
A giant-impacts phase in the evolution of planetary systems can explain the observations of close-in giant planets with eccentric orbits.
-

Powerful new supercomputer supports campus research in physical sciences
UCSC faculty are using the new system for research in astrophysics, climate science, materials science, chemistry, and other fields.
-

DESI opens its 5,000 eyes to capture the colors of the cosmos
UC Santa Cruz astronomers have played leading roles in the collaborative effort to install a new sky-surveying instrument now beginning final testing.
-

When exoplanets collide
Scientists thought they found clues pointing to a collision between two exoplanets ten years ago. Now they found more evidence of a catastrophic collision.
-

Galaxy found to float in a tranquil sea of halo gas
Analysis of radio pulses that passed through a galactic halo reveals a surprisingly quiescent halo with very low density and weak magnetic field.
-

Lick Observatory commemorates Apollo 11 experiment on 50th anniversary
Dedication of a plaque at Lick’s Shane Telescope on August 1 honors the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment that measured the distance to the moon 50 years ago.
-

Astronomers make history in a split second with localization of fast radio burst
In a world first, an international team of astronomers has determined the precise location of a powerful one-off burst of cosmic radio waves known as a fast radio burst.
-

Steck Award honoree delves into the mysteries of supernovae
Tin Long Sunny Wong has been gazing at the stars and studying celestial bodies since he was a middle-school student in Hong Kong. This year, his study of supernovae earned him a Steck Family Award, honoring the most outstanding senior research project
-

Gifts accelerate research, from the galactic to the microscopic
Gifts from Ken and Gloria Levy support biomedical discovery that may help cancer patients as well as research on dark matter halos, some of the universe’s largest structures
