News

Following the Stars: Where Charity Woodrum Is Now

Charity Woodrum, Astronomy PhD ’24, is now a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at Goddard Space Flight Center.

Hurricane Erin Photobombs CatSat

Hurricane Erin as seen from CatSat

A growing baby planet photographed for first time in a ring of darkness

The WISPIT 2 system as seen by the Magellan Telescope in Chile and the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona. The protoplanet WISPIT 2b appears as a purple dot in a dust-free gap between a bright, white dust ring around the star and a fainter, outer ring, orbiting at about 56 times the average distance between the Earth and the sun. The other potential planet, CC1, appears as the red object inside the dust free cavity and is estimated to be about 15 Earth-sun distances from its host star.

Astrobiologists Still Need A Viable Definition Of Life: Interview with Steward Observatory's Daniel Apai

Fantasy Alien Exo Planet isolated galaxy space

Alpha Centauri, sun's closest stellar neighbor, likely harbors giant planet

This artist’s concept shows what a gas giant orbiting Alpha Centauri A could look like. Observations of the triple star system Alpha Centauri using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope indicate the potential gas giant, about the mass of Saturn, orbiting the star by about two times the distance between the Sun and Earth.

Honey, Hardware, and the Heart of Steward Observatory

Steward Observatory

CatSat Named Finalist for AIAA’s 2025 “Rookie of the Year” Award

CatSat will orbit Earth about every 95 minutes for the next year, studying radio transmission in the ionosphere and testing an ultralight inflatable antenna. Image: Aman Chandra/FreeFall Aerospace

Aspera team maps their progress on mission to study galaxy evolution

In a new paper this month from Carlos Vargas and the Aspera team, readers get updates and context for the Steward Observatory-based mission. (Pictured: OAPs being bonded to their flight holders.)

NSF funds Steward Observatory postdoc's effort to sharpen view of the cosmos

The project enhances LBT’s visible-light capabilities, advancing U.S. leadership in next-gen astronomy

Tiny Sensors, Infinite Skies: How the Imaging Technology Lab at University of Arizona Helped Build the World’s Largest Eye on the Universe

University of Arizona’s Imaging Technology Lab produced the sensors for the focal plane for the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) camera: the largest digital camera ever built.