2016 News
April 17, 2025
New faculty rejuvenate Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
November 28, 2016
New astronomy faculty bring with them a wide range of expertise in some of the most exciting areas of astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology.
Astronomer Sandra Faber awarded California Academy of Sciences Fellows Medal
November 15, 2016
The California Academy of Sciences has awarded its highest honor, the Fellows Medal, to Sandra Faber, professor emerita of astronomy and astrophysics, and elected professors Karen Holl and Erika Zavaleta as new Academy Fellows.
Astronomer Ryan Foley wins prestigious Packard Fellowship
October 14, 2016
Foley is the 12th UCSC faculty member, and fifth UCSC astronomer, to receive a Packard Fellowship.
Astrophysicist Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz honored by American Physical Society
October 11, 2016
Ramirez-Ruiz, professor and chair of astronomy and astrophysics, will receive the 2017 Edward A. Bouchet Award.
The Kavli Summer Program in Astrophysics, hosted at UCSC
September 26, 2016
Every other year the Kavli Summer Program in Astrophysics returns to UC Santa Cruz for six weeks. It joins 15 top graduate students from the around the world with senior mentors to break new ground on the most pressing topics in astrophysics. Watch this new video to learn more about the program.
Astronomer Garth Illingworth to receive Astronomical Society's Berkeley Prize
September 15, 2016
Illingworth will receive the 2016 Lancelot M. Berkeley – New York Community Trust Prize for Meritorious Work in Astronomy.
In Memoriam: Terry Mast (1943 - 2016)
August 17, 2016
Three UC Santa Cruz Ph.D. candidates awarded AAUW fellowships
August 12, 2016
Three UC Santa Cruz Ph.D. candidates have been awarded 2016-2017 fellowships from the American Association of University Women (AAUW).
Follow-up of Kepler data yields more than 100 confirmed exoplanets
July 18, 2016
International team reports the biggest haul of new worlds yet uncovered by NASA's K2 mission.
Baby stars grow big and strong by eating their own burst bubbles
July 18, 2016
By using detailed simulations of the collapse of massive pre-stellar cores, we have studied how massive stars attain their mass. The intense radiation pressure from these stars can overcome gravity and halt accretion, leading to expanding bubbles that surround the star. By using a new detailed treatment of radiation pressure in numerical simulations we have shown these bubbles become unstable, leading to tendrils of gas that can fall towards the star. We find that these instabilities are another mechanism for delivering mass to massive stars during their formation.
Astronomers find evidence of water clouds in first spectrum of coldest brown dwarf
July 06, 2016
Difficult spectroscopic observations reveal properties of the coldest known object outside of our solar system.
ALMA Uses ‘Double Vision’ to Study Galaxy’s Gaseous Ingredients
July 1, 2016
By combing data taken with the Keck telescopes and ALMA, we have for the first time imaged the molecular gas in both absorption and emission in a galaxy-quasar pair. This has revealed that the gas seen in absorption is not part of the molecular disk of the galaxy, but instead is surrounding the galaxy as part of the circumgalactic medium. The location and velocity of this gas suggest that is bound to the galaxy and will likely get redeposited onto the galaxy in the future.
The sky is no limit for planet-hunting grad student
June 07, 2016
Astronomy grad student Jennifer Burt helped write software that turned a powerful telescope at Lick Observatory into the first automated planet finder in the world.
Astronomer Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz awarded Niels Bohr Professorship
May 20, 2016
Award from the Danish National Research Foundation provides $5 million to fund research in theoretical astrophysics.
Astronomer Sandra Faber to receive honorary degree from Amherst College
May 13, 2016
Faber will receive an honorary degree from Amherst College during its commencement exercises on May 22.
Speech on future of the human race
May 11, 2016
Professor Emerita Sandy Faber's lecture at Space Telescope Science Institute draws a closer connection between astronomical knowledge and the future of the human race.
Astronomer Jonathan Fortney prepares for Cassini mission's grand finale
April 21, 2016
NASA has tapped Fortney to support the final act of its Cassini mission and serve on a science team starting to plan for a potential future mission to Uranus or Neptune.
Astronomers break cosmic distance record (again)
March 03, 2016
UCSC astronomer Garth Illingworth and his collaborators have been pushing the limits of current telescopes to study the most distant galaxies, breaking the record twice within a year
Two UC Santa Cruz professors win Sloan Research Fellowships
February 23, 2016
Astronomer Andrew Skemer and ecologist Kristy Kroeker are among the 2016 Sloan Research Fellows.
Astronomy retiree Arnold Klemola establishes endowment for graduate students
February 03, 2016
Gift of $400,000 establishes the James Keeler Fund for Excellence in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Strong Evidence Suggests a Super Earth Lies beyond Pluto
January 20, 2016
Former UC Santa Cruz undergraduate, and current Caltech professor, finds evidence for a massive planet in our solar system well beyond Pluto. The evidence for the planet, at least 10 times the mass of Earth, come from studying the orbits of already detected objects in the outer solar system.
