Seminar on astrobiology aims to inspire a look into the bounds of life
By bringing together biologists, chemists, engineers, astronomers and others, astrobiology aims to uncover the origin of life on our planet and life’s prospects in the cosmos.
Tag: space & astronomy
Gamma ray telescope ready for prime time
A new telescope, part of an international effort to develop and build the world’s largest, most sensitive gamma-ray detector, was unveiled to the public Thursday. UW-Madison scientists developed a camera at the heart of the telescope.
Watch comet 46P/Wirtanen, discovered by a Wisconsinite, as it nears Earth
The comet, discovered by Kenosha native Carl Wirtanen, a well-regarded hunter of astronomical objects and surveyor of the Milky Way in the 20th century, will make its closest approach to Earth on Dec. 16.
Reaching for the stars: 50 years of space astronomy
In December 1968, the world’s first autonomous space-based astronomical observatory carried seven telescopes from UW–Madison, designed and built by a plucky band of scientists in an unassuming warehouse on South Park Street.
IceCube: Solving the mystery of cosmic rays
Thank the moon for Earth’s lengthening day
A new study that reconstructs the deep history of our planet’s relationship to the moon shows that 1.4 billion years ago, a day on Earth lasted just over 18 hours.
UW–Madison alumni, students forge team to aid proposed NASA mission
A group of UW-Madison students used a foundry to cast a stand-in for a spacecraft that may rendezvous with a comet two decades from now.
Prototype camera set for integration into novel gamma-ray telescope
A unique high-speed camera, designed to capture the fleeting effects of gamma rays crashing into the Earth’s atmosphere, will soon be on its way from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to Arizona’s Mount Hopkins.
‘Origins’ scientists to take your questions Thursday during Reddit AMA
Ever wondered what it’s like to unearth a long-buried human ancestor? Or to peer into the night sky to discover the mysteries of galaxy evolution? Find out Thursday.
UW researcher to send cotton into space to improve its growth on Earth
Botanist Simon Gilroy will study cotton seedlings grown on the International Space Station in a project that could help researchers understand how to develop plants that use water more efficiently.
In ‘Origins,’ UW–Madison and South African scientists tackle mysteries of our shared beginnings
The quest to understand our beginnings — of our universe, of life on Earth, of our species — inspires people all over the world. At UW–Madison, researchers have forged partnerships with colleagues in South Africa and are uncovering answers and opening new scientific frontiers.
Is there life adrift in the clouds of Venus?
An international team of researchers led by planetary scientist Sanjay Limaye of UW–Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center lays out a case for the atmosphere of Venus as a possible niche for extraterrestrial microbial life.
Decades of research identify source of galaxy-sized stream of gas
The answer will help astronomers understand how galaxies, including the Milky Way, form and change over time.
UW-Madison to aid NASA’s push to measure Arctic’s radiant energy
Questions abound about conditions in the Arctic and its role in regulating Earth’s climate. Now, a UW–Madison-led research program aims to answer some of them.
Freely shared satellite data improves weather forecasting
UW–Madison scientists specialize in receiving and processing data from satellites for use by everyone from other researchers and meteorologists to the general public.
Remembering astronaut Laurel Clark, 15 years after Columbia tragedy
Clark, a UW-Madison graduate, was killed along with six other crew members when the space shuttle disintegrated upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.
First measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum with HAWC
It bridges measurements at higher energy usually performed by ground based detectors and measurements at lower energy that previously had been conducted by detectors on satellites and balloons.
Icebound detector reveals how ghostly neutrinos are stopped cold
An international team of researchers at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory has made a critical measurement that may one day help predict new physics beyond the Standard Model, which seeks to explain the fundamental forces of the universe.
Images of strange solar system visitor peel away some of the mystery
A strange visitor, either asteroid or comet, zipping through our solar system at a high rate of speed is giving astronomers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to examine up close an object from somewhere else in our galaxy.
Magnetic fields in distant galaxy are new piece of cosmic puzzle
A new study provides hints about how magnetic fields have grown into galactic-sized structures since the beginning of the universe.