Galaxy formation model showing dark matter (left), gas temperature (middle), and stars (right) at three epochs in the formation of an elliptical galaxy (Cattaneo and Faber).
Orion setting in the west over San Jose from Mt. Hamilton.
(Image courtesty of L. Hatch © )
Physics major Jenny Holt with poster on E Galaxies at SACNAS conference, 2004.
Rendering of the Thirty-Meter Telescope in dome.
Shane 3 m and telescopes at twilight. Lick Observatory
(Image courtesty of L. Hatch © )
Fermi/GLAST observatory with team leaders, including Robert Atwood from UCSC Physics/SCIPP.
Thirty-meter mirror compared to Keck 10-m and Palomar 200-inch.
State-of-the-art simulations of a supernova explosion (Stan Woosley).

ASTRO BLASTS JUST IN......


Special Events

SAVE THE DATE!

SIDEWALK ASTRONOMY VIEWING PRIOR TO EVENT!
Come early and partake in a sidewalk astronomy viewing.  See Jupiter through a telescope just like Galileo's! UCSC Astronomy Department Grad students will be available starting at 5:30 pm right under the Del Mar marquee to take you on your viewing adventure.
Ninth Annual Halliday Lecture

"The Thirty Meter Telescope: Galileo's Legacy 400 years Later"

Astronomer Jerry Nelson,
University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory
Project Scientist for the Thirty Meter Telescope

Thursday, November 12, 2009
7:00 PM
Del Mar Theatre

Open to the Public
**No Charge**

MORE INFO

This lively and engaging lecture is designed for the general public. Presented as a part of the Halliday Lecutre Series, created by a generous gift to UCSC from benefactor John Halliday to promote public awareness and appreciation for Astronomy.

We seek your help and support in being able to continue to offer these lectures. For information on giving please see the following website.
 


[All Events]
 

UCSC Astronomy department professors Faber and Krumholz lead fellow UC professors in warning State and University Officials against faculty salary cuts that last more than one year. [More]

300 eminent UC Scientists write Governor Schwarzenegger regarding latest round of proposed cuts to UC budget.  Full text may be found here.

 

UCSC earns top ranking for scientific impact of Astronomy research

UC Santa Cruz is the top-ranking university in the country for the quality of its research in astronomy and astrophysics, according to a new analysis of papers published in scientific journals and how often those papers are cited by other scientists. [More]


Highlights

Supernova: Seeding Talent in Physics and Astrophysics to Prepare the Next Generation Workforce in the Bay Area
asteinacatucsc [dot] edu (Adriane Steinacker) (Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics) and David Belanger (Department of Physics) have received a five year grant of $600,000 from the National Science Foundation with the goal of creating opportunities for talented but financially needy students to complete a baccalaureate degree in physics or astrophysics, a track that will ensure them high chances of landing a well-paid job with a broad range of choices. [More] 






Thinking at the edge

News

new UCSC Astronomer Jerry Nelson was featured in the October edition of
Science about the Thirty Meter Telescope.
 [11/04/2009]
new UCSC Astrophysicist Mark Krumholz featured as "rising star" in the Fall 2009 UCSC Review [11/03/2009] [link]
new UCSC physicist Anthony Aguirre
highlighted in Discover and Astronomy magazine feature stories on the possibility that we inhabit just one of many "universes"-- and that we might actually be able to detect the presence of others.
 [09/15/2009]
new Astronomer Garth Illingworth leads team that has begun observations
 with new images and spectra from a rejuventated Hubble Space Telescope and is quoted on this subject in two ScienceNews articles; September 16th and September 26th.
 [09/14/2009]
new Lick Observatory celebrates 50th anniversary of Shane Telescope
 For 50 years, the 3-meter Shane Telescope has helped keep Lick Observatory at the forefront of modern astronomy.
 [09/04/2009] [link]
new Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, UCSC astrophysicist, has an article published
this week in Nature discussing the origin of short gamma-ray bursts.
 [08/27/2009]
new Fermi results featured on the cover
 of Science. A team of UCSC physicists at the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP) played a leading role in the development of the instrument. UCSC physicists and astronomers are coauthors of three major papers reporting scientific results from Fermi in the July issue. [08/24/2009] [link]
new The detection of Galactic dark matter annihiliation would unravel
one of the most outstanding puzzles in particle physics and cosmology.  UCSC astrophysicist Piero Madau has an article published this week in Science entitled "Exploring Dark Matter wtih Milky Way Substructure"
 [08/21/2009]
new UCSC astrophysicists have developed supercomputer simulations of
 stars exploding in a supernova, providing new insight into using such events to measure the expansion of the universe. A new study published this week in Nature and featured in a Science News article.
 [08/12/2009] [link]
UCSC astrophysicist, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, establishes John Bahcall
award for top Mexican physics student.
[08/05/2009] [link]
more