News
November 8, 2024
Ultra-small spectrometer yields the power of a 1,000 times bigger device
October 23, 2024
UC Santa Cruz researchers are designing new ways to make spectrometers that are ultra-small but still very powerful, to be used for anything from detecting disease to observing stars in distant galaxies
UC Santa Cruz receives NSF grant to transform diversity and inclusion in STEM graduate programs
October 23, 2024
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded nearly $1 million to researchers at UC Santa Cruz to advance equity and inclusion by fostering a more inclusive, culturally rich environment in STEM graduate programs.
Science Division debuts ‘degree-defining experiences’ drawing on UC Santa Cruz’s unique strengths
October 15, 2024
The Science Division has received a $1 million donation to begin a major new program on “degree-defining experiences.” The program will pilot 17 projects across campus that aim to profoundly inspire undergraduate students and fill them with the kind of optimism that forever changes how they see their time at UC Santa Cruz and their future careers.
Astronomy postdoc to develop technologies that mold starlight to better detect exoplanets
October 15, 2024
The Astronomy & Astrophysics Department welcomes postdoctoral scientist Emiel Por, who invents technologies that mold the starlight captured by ground- and space-based telescopes to improve imaging of planetary companions. His work will be supported by the Heising-Simons Foundation's 51 Pegasi b Fellowship program.
UC Santa Cruz astronomer delivers keynote speech for Mexico's National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies
September 18, 2024
The council chose Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz as the final speaker in the series, which leads up to the inauguration of Mexico's new president on October 1, in honor of his distinguished career and accomplishments that followed his public education and training in Mexico.
Santa Cruz Symphony opens new concert with music from professor
September 18, 2024
Despite his background in astrophysics former professor Martin Gaskell has always had a passion for music. This weekend the Santa Cruz Symphony will be opening their first concert of the season with one of Gaskell’s pieces.
2023 astronomy Ph.D. graduate honored for dissertation work, mentoring and leadership
September 17, 2024
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific has honored recent UC Santa Cruz Ph.D. graduate Maggie Thompson for research "considered unusually important to astronomy."
A wobble from Mars could be sign of dark matter, new study finds
September 17, 2024
New simulations suggest that there are enough primordial black holes—potential dark matter candidates—in the universe for one to pass through the inner solar system every decade. The work builds upon an astrophysical theory that has growing popularity.
UC Santa Cruz research will harness advanced AI to better measure, predict climate-change impacts
September 3, 2024
Two UC Santa Cruz research projects designed to leverage advanced forms of artificial intelligence to improve how scientists measure and predict the effects of climate change have won funding from a $20 million investment by the National Science Foundation.
Scientists to study nearby galaxies for galactic-formation history, dark matter
August 29, 2024
At approximately 100,000 light years in diameter, the Milky Way's vastness and the broader, ever-changing dynamics of the cosmos defy any attempt to fully understand our home galaxy and its history. UC Santa Cruz astronomer Puragra "Raja" GuhaThakurta sums up this dilemma in more familiar and figurative terms: "We simply don’t have a selfie stick long enough to take those kinds of photos."
Annual event at Lick Observatory links modern astronomy to native perspectives
August 9, 2024
In collaboration with the UC Santa Cruz American Indian Resource Center, the University of California Observatories (UCO) recently hosted the second annual Native Star Stories Night at Lick Observatory. Held this year on May 9, the special event is intended to show that this traditional way of engaging with the cosmos remains as relevant and valuable today to indigenous communities as it was thousands of years ago.
UC Santa Cruz astrophysicists honored for advancing research on the mysterious FRB
July 9, 2024
Fast radio bursts are sudden flashes of radio waves coming from random parts of the sky. Each one is on only for a few milliseconds, but they are extraordinarily bright: In those few milliseconds, they put out more energy than our sun does in an entire year. We also know that they come from objects in distant galaxies, sometimes billions of light years away.
Ph.D. student leads effort to open Kosovo's first observatory
June 13, 2024
Earth’s newest observatory will open to the public on June 20, 2024, coinciding with the summer solstice, thanks in large part to a UC Santa Cruz student from Kosovo who discovered her love of astronomy as a child amidst the chaos of the country’s brutal war for independence over 20 years ago.
Earliest, most distant galaxy discovered with James Webb Space Telescope
May 30, 2024
An international team of astronomers today announced the discovery using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) of the two earliest and most distant galaxies yet confirmed, dating back to only 300 million years after the Big Bang.
New exoplanets catalog showcases diverse, exotic worlds
May 23, 2024
Our understanding of exoplanets, those strange worlds that orbit stars beyond our solar system, is now broader and deeper thanks to separate studies published this week featuring the work of researchers at UC Santa Cruz.
UC Santa Cruz ‘Shadow the Scientists’ program honored for astronomical DEI efforts
April 17, 2024
A science-inclusion program based at UC Santa Cruz that has allowed thousands of school-age children, educators, and inquisitive individuals to look through world-class telescopes alongside trained astronomers has been honored for opening up scientific exploration to those from underrepresented backgrounds around the world.
First results from DESI make the most precise measurement of our expanding universe
April 4, 2024
We now have the largest 3-D map of our cosmos ever created, thanks to DESI—a powerful instrument mounted atop a telescope in Arizona with a robotic array of 5,000 fiber-optic “eyes” that look into the night sky.
The Science Division announces recipients of Distinguished Alumni Awards
April 2, 2024
Dr. José de Jesús González, Dr. Maximiliano Mateo Cuevas, and Dr. Charles A. Lawson are this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipients for the Science Division.
The Center for Creative Ecologies presents "Nuclear Nows: Contemporary Art, Radiation, and Militarized Ecologies”
February 26, 2024
This two-part symposium is the work of Zoe Weldon-Yochim, a Ph.D. Candidate in Visual Studies, in collaboration with T.J. Demos, Professor in the Department of the History of Art and Visual Culture and Director of the Center for Creative Ecologies, and will discuss the intersection of contemporary art, militarized ecologies, and nuclear nationalism.
UC Santa Cruz Physicist Joel Primack wins 2024 AAAS Abelson Prize
February 13, 2024
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has awarded the prestigious 2024 Philip Hauge Abelson Prize to Joel R. Primack, distinguished professor of physics emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz and a key architect of the Cold Dark Matter theory.
Students search for hidden black hole activity
January 18, 2024
When stars get too close to the supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies, the black holes shred them apart in a process called a tidal disruption event (TDE). These TDEs cause bright flashes, but recent models suggest that scientists should see more of them than have been observed.
Black Lives Matter: A statement from our department
June 24, 2020