Stories indexed under: Astronomy

Total: 28   RSSRSS feed

  • Photo of February calendar Curiosities: Why do we need leap days? Feb. 11, 2008 Leap days appear every four years or so, including this year, and they are needed because one orbit around the sun does not occur in an exact number of days, says Jim Lattis, director of UW Space Place, in the UW-Madison astronomy department.
  • Washburn Observatory to close for renovations Oct. 4, 2007 Washburn Observatory, which sits along Observatory Drive on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, will close at the end of October for remodeling and renovations.
  • This artist’s illustration depicts the jet of relativistic particles blasting out of Circinus X-1 Jets from neutron star rival those made by black holes June 27, 2007 A team of astronomers led by a UW-Madison scientist has found that neutron stars produce jets of energy and matter that rival those produced by black holes.
  • Space Place unveils nifty new exhibits Nov. 8, 2006 On Friday, Nov. 10, the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Space Place will unveil three new exhibits about Wisconsin astronomers' explorations of the heavens.
  • ResearchChannel programs available to Charter Digital Cable subscribers Aug. 2, 2006 Subscribers to Charter Digital Cable now have access to University of Wisconsin-Madison programming on ResearchChannel as video on demand.
  • Physicists say multi-million dollar experiment advancing smoothly March 30, 2006 An international team of scientists led by the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, or Fermilab, today described early results from a $170 million project that seeks to better understand neutrinos, the elusive subatomic particles that have intrigued physicists for decades.
  • Giant optical telescope in South Africa comes online Sept. 1, 2005 Five years after breaking ground on a South African mountaintop near the edge of the Kalahari desert, astronomers today released the first images captured by the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), now the equal of the world's largest optical telescope and a prized window to the night skies of the southern hemisphere.
  • Countdown to new Space Place launch this weekend Aug. 23, 2005 Astronomy buffs of all ages are invited to celebrate the launch of Space Place, UW-Madison's astronomy outreach center, at its new Villager Mall location on Sunday, Aug. 28. Opening week activities continue through Thursday, Sept. 1 and are free and open to the public.
  • Galactic survey reveals a new look for the Milky Way Aug. 16, 2005 With the help of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, University of Wisconsin astronomers have conducted the most comprehensive structural analysis of our galaxy and have found tantalizing new evidence that the Milky Way is much different from your ordinary spiral galaxy.
  • UW-Madison instilling science literacy in South Africa July 12, 2005 In November, representatives from UW-Madison will attend the inauguration of the southern hemisphere's largest telescope, the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). UW-Madison is one of nearly a dozen international institutions that partnered with the South African government to build SALT, including universities in Russia, Poland, New Zealand, Germany and the United States.
  • Moving a multi-ton space machine May 31, 2005 As the UW Space Place prepares for a late-June move to Villager Mall, it faces the daunting task this week of relocating its star attraction: an enormous space observatory weighing several thousand pounds.
  • UW Space Place: More space, new place May 4, 2005 Fifteen years ago in a run-down former steak house, a small but determined cadre of astronomers at UW-Madison gave Madison access to the stars.
  • First critical parts of giant neutrino telescope in place Feb. 15, 2005 Working under harsh Antarctic conditions, an international team of scientists, engineers and technicians has set in place the first critical elements of a massive neutrino telescope at the South Pole.
  • Scientific heart of giant telescope comes together Jan. 28, 2005 In the spring of 2005, when the new Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) trains its huge eye on the southern sky for the first time, the starlight it gathers will be parsed and analyzed by an instrument more befitting a space-based telescope than a ground-based monster.
  • Milky Way churning out new stars at a furious pace May 27, 2004 Some of the first data from a new orbiting infrared telescope are revealing that the Milky Way - and by analogy galaxies in general - is making new stars at a much more prolific pace than astronomers imagined.
  • NASA scientist to lecture on blue planets, black holes May 3, 2004 The mysteries of planet hunting, black holes and other cosmic phenomena will be the subject of a special public lecture by UW-Madison alumna and NASA scientist Anne Kinney on Friday, May 7.
  • Public invited to reading of play about female astronomer April 26, 2004 The public is invited to a free reading of "Comet Hunter," a new play about the life and career of a female astronomer who helped shape the modern history of her field. The event begins at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 3, on the UW-Madison campus.
  • Expert in search for extraterrestrial intelligence to speak Feb. 2, 2004 The "founding father" of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, Frank Drake, will give a free public lecture at UW-Madison at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19 in 1315 Chemistry Building, 1101 University Ave.
  • New tracks in the snow Jan. 27, 2004 The neutrino telescope IceCube is making its first tracks in the South Pole's snow, reports Jeff Cherwinka, an engineer with the Antarctic Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Institute at UW-Madison.
  • Astronomer named prestigious Packard Fellow Oct. 15, 2003 Amy Barger, a UW-Madison professor of astronomy, is one of 16 young academics named a 2003 Packard Foundation Fellow for Science and Engineering, it was announced today (Oct. 15).