News
Astronomer Sandra Faber awarded Royal Astronomical Society’s Gold Medal
January 10, 2020
The Royal Astronomical Society has awarded its Gold Medal in Astronomy to Sandra Faber, professor emerita of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz.
$1 million gift creates William Wallace Campbell Director’s Fund for Lick Observatory
January 8, 2020
A new endowment honoring the third director of Lick Observatory will support current and future directors’ priorities for the observatory.
Astrophysicist Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz gives TED talk at National Academy of Sciences
December 17, 2019
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
December 3, 2019
Research led by astronomers at UC Santa Cruz and Carnegie Institution for Science has implications for understanding how planets form.
Nine UCSC speakers join TEDx Santa Cruz extravaganza Dec. 7
December 2, 2019
Nine UCSC affiliates will join novelist Jonathan Franzen and a host of other speakers for TEDx Santa Cruz, a daylong extravaganza focused this year on the "Art of Hope," on Saturday, Dec. 7.
List of most highly cited researchers features 18 UCSC scientists and engineers
November 19, 2019
The 2019 Highly Cited Researchers list includes 18 scientists and engineers at UC Santa Cruz.
Lick Observatory continues popular program for Spanish-speaking community
November 7, 2019
‘La Noche de las Estrellas’ at Lick Observatory brings science to Spanish-speaking students and their families.
Powerful new supercomputer supports campus research in physical sciences
October 30, 2019
UCSC faculty are using the new system for research in astrophysics, climate science, materials science, chemistry, and other fields.
Simulations explain giant exoplanets with eccentric, close-in orbits
October 30, 2019
A giant-impacts phase in the evolution of planetary systems can explain the observations of close-in giant planets with eccentric orbits.
DESI opens its 5,000 eyes to capture the colors of the cosmos
October 28, 2019
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
October 22, 2019
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
September 26, 2019
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
July 22, 2019
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
June 27, 2019
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
June 9, 2019
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
June 4, 2019
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
Astronomer Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz appointed to endowed chair for diversity in astronomy
May 24, 2019
The May 22 investiture ceremony honored Ramirez-Ruiz as the inaugural holder of the Vera Rubin Presidential Chair for Diversity in Astronomy.
Astrophysicist Natalie Batalha will give annual Mandel Lecture on June 5
May 23, 2019
Free public talk will focus on Batalha's research on exoplanets and the search for life on other planets.
First Faculty Ethics Bowl at UC Santa Cruz to focus on the future
May 10, 2019
What role should thinking about the far future—1,000 years ahead and beyond—play in research on campus? That’s the key question that will be discussed at "Ethics and the Far Future"--the first UC Santa Cruz Faculty Ethics Bowl.
Ancient galaxies reveal new clues about a cosmic transformation
May 8, 2019
The unexpected brightness of early galaxies may explain "reionization," a transformative epoch in the history of the universe.
Astronomers assemble wide view of the evolving universe
May 2, 2019
A team led by UC Santa Cruz astronomer Garth Illingworth used 16 years of Hubble Space Telescope observations to create a new portrait of the distant universe.
Alumni Weekend 2019: Slugs in the mist
April 30, 2019
More than a thousand people, including 560 alumni, converged on the hilly forested campus for Alumni Weekend 2019, complete with thought-provoking lectures, snacks, free Slug Taxis, a fond farewell, and dancing into the night.
Sandra Faber receives American Philosophical Society's Magellanic Premium Medal
April 29, 2019
Faber was honored for her transformative research on galaxy formation and evolution.
UC Santa Cruz hosts summer program on machine learning in astronomy
April 19, 2019
The Kavli Summer Program in Astrophysics brings together an international group of scientists and students for a six-week program of learning and research.
Astronomer Natalie Batalha elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
April 17, 2019
The academy's class of 2019 also includes UCSC alumnus Joe Palca, as well as Michelle Obama and Jonathan Franzen.
Summer programs draw visitors to Lick Observatory for music and stargazing
March 25, 2019
Tickets go on sale in April for the observatory's popular summer evening programs.
Leading the charge for change
March 10, 2019
Alumna Amita Kuttner, a current graduate student in the Physics Department, is running as a Green Party candidate for a seat in Canada’s House of Commons in order to make policy around climate change—a quest sparked by a devastating loss
UCSC to bring art/science LASER series downtown for special evening at Rio Theater
March 1, 2019
On Tuesday, March 12, the Institute of the Arts and Sciences at UC Santa Cruz will bring its local LASER—now in its sixth year of quarterly talks on campus—downtown for a special evening at the Rio Theater.
In memoriam: Irene Osterbrock
February 20, 2019
Widow of late Lick Observatory director was tireless UC Santa Cruz advocate, volunteer, supporter of graduate students, and arts patron
Astrophysicist Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz wins AAS/HEAD Mid-Career Prize
February 12, 2019
The 2019 HEAD Mid-Career Prize recognizes Ramirez-Ruiz "for his key contributions to our physical understanding of transient phenomena involving compact objects."
Three UCSC undergrads honored for presentations at national astronomy meeting
February 5, 2019
Three UCSC undergraduates were among the winners of the Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Awards at the American Astronomical Society meeting.
