News

A Historic Milestone: Department of Astronomy Celebrates Its Largest Graduating Class Ever

Steward Observatory

What shines brighter than a quasar? Two quasars!

Among around 1000 individual quasars, there is on average only one double quasar. At the end of their development, the two spirally approach and merge with each other. They leave an even more massive, single black hole (illustration).

Steward PhD Alum Feature: The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has Discovered 11,000 New Asteroids, and It's Barely Even Started!

A model of the inner Solar System showing the asteroids discovered by Rubin in light teal. Known asteroids are dark blue.

Giant Magellan Telescope Consortium releases video of inaugural summit

Giant Magellan Telescope Summit image

Turbocharging SPHEREx: How U of A Cosmologists Are Using AI to Unlock the Universe's Largest Galaxy Survey

SPHEREx

University of Arizona Astrophysicist Erika Hamden Named 2026 Guggenheim Fellow

Hamden recognized among 223 fellows worldwide for groundbreaking detector development and leadership in UV space telescope missions

Final Four, Final Frontier: Erika Hamden uses national stage to link U of A's athletics and space sciences

Erika Hamden, associate professor of astrophysics in the Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory and director of the Space Institute, speaks with reporters at the Bear Down Bash in downtown Indianapolis.

Mysterious red dot first spotted by U of A astronomers reveals itself as a baby planet orbiting a young star

An artist's illustration of the WISPIT 2 system. WISPIT 2c is closest to the star in the back; WISPIT 2b is in the foreground. Both are now confirmed to be young, growing protoplanets.

AAS Announces 2026 Shapley Lecturers - Including Steward Observatory Astronomer Chris Impey

Shapley lecturers

Newly discovered star opens 'laboratory' for solving cosmic dust mystery

Art by Thordis Maaske