Tag Space & astronomy
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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.