Tag Space & astronomy
The eclipse as a satellite saw it
One of the best vantage points for today’s total solar eclipse is out of this world — literally. Scientists at UW–Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) observed the eclipse through the eye of one of the world’s most advanced weather satellites, GOES-16. The images were taken at a rate of one every five minutes. Stitched together, they show the shadow of the moon tracking west to east across the continental United States. (GOES-16 data are preliminary/nonoperational.) Read More
Astronomy video game wins national award
“At Play in the Cosmos,” an educational video game developed at UW–Madison, won the third annual Mashable + Games for Change People’s Choice Award. Read More
How to take in the eclipse: Tips from UW Space Place
The effects of the partial eclipse in Wisconsin will be subtle, but worth watching nonetheless. Read More
Celestial boondocks: Study supports the idea that we live in a void
An undergraduate's work confirms we live in a hole in the cosmos, and sheds light on how we measure the rate at which the universe is expanding. Read More
UW project brings Milky Way’s ionized hydrogen into focus
Building on efforts to tease out a new and mostly hidden feature of our galaxy, UW–Madison astronomers developed a spectrometer capable of detecting the faint, diffuse light emanating from the space between the stars. Read More
Dark matter detection receives 10-ton upgrade
The researchers’ goal is to take the experiment online as quickly as possible to compete in a global race to be the first to detect dark matter. Read More
From rocks in Colorado, evidence of a ‘chaotic solar system’
New evidence confirms a critical theory of how the planets in our solar system behave in their orbits around the sun, producing big changes in Earth's climate. Read More
Bringing satellites to users can improve public health and safety
The drumbeat calling scientists to share their work with the public is as loud as ever, and Tracey Holloway is happy to answer. Holloway leads a group of researchers drawn together as NASA’s Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Team. Read More
UW-Madison astrophysics innovator Lawler wins national award
James Lawler is a professor of physics known for devising techniques to measure the chemical elements in the sun and other stars. Read More
Astronaut James Lovell’s commencement speech
Read the complete text of Capt. James A. Lovell's commencement address to 2016 winter graduates. Read More
Weather satellite extends beyond mission, into classrooms
Teachers from around the country are taking their experiences from the launch back to their schools through a program spearheaded by UW–Madison's Margaret Mooney. Read More
Supermoon? Meh. It may be closer, but it won’t be super duper
"It’s always good when people take an interest in astronomical objects, but I wouldn't wake the kids up at 3 a.m.” says UW–Madison Space Place Director Jim Lattis. Read More
Hilldale lecture draws noted astrophysicist with climate message
Frank Shu, who has done pioneering research in astronomy on planetary disks, the origin of meteorites and the evolution of stars, will talk about reversing climate change. Read More
With UW Astronomy support, planets star at Madison Symphony Orchestra
MSO will perform “The Planets: An HD Odyssey” — Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” alongside images and video captured around our solar system by NASA probes and telescopes. Read More
UW-Madison scientists help fly Global Hawk drone into Hermine, other hurricanes
The Global Hawk is part of a three-year experimental mission called SHOUT (Sensing Hazards with Operational Unmanned Technology), focused on studying whether the drone can improve hurricane analysis and forecasting in an economically feasible way. Read More
IceCube search for the ‘sterile neutrino’ draws a blank
With the latest results from the icy observatory at the South Pole, scientists are almost certain that there is no such particle. Read More
UW’s Holloway to lead NASA Health and Air Quality Initiative
The fleet of Earth-observing satellites deployed by NASA and other government agencies is providing an unprecedented look at what’s in the air we breathe. Read More
Cataclysm at Meteor Crater: Crystal sheds light on Earth, moon, Mars
In molten sandstone extracted by prospectors a century ago, an international team of scientists has discovered microscopic crystals telling of unimaginable pressures and temperatures when an asteroid formed Meteor Crater in northern Arizona some 49,000 years ago. Read More
UW-Madison’s Zweibel wins 2016 Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
University of Wisconsin–Madison astrophysicist Ellen Gould Zweibel has won the American Physical Society’s 2016 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics. Read More
UW-Madison part of new search for signals from the early universe
A consortium of researchers, including scientists from UW–Madison, is planning a new observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Read More