astronomy

A close collaboration of physicists, astronomers, and engineers, including Fermilab researchers, obtained the first astronomical spectrum using skipper charge-coupled devices using an instrument on the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope in Chile.

Fermilab’s Don Lincoln describes the annular eclipse that will occur this Saturday, Oct. 14. Break out your eclipse protective eyewear because the thin ring of sunlight that will encircle the moon is very bright even though Illinois is not in the path of maximum coverage.

The Rubin Observatory is making education and outreach a top priority.

From Big Think, October 25, 2022: Don Lincoln explores the two theories of gravity from Newton and Einstein. Due to astronomers observations of gravitational waves recorded in 2017, we now know that gravity and light travel at the same speed.

Physicists are revisiting what they previously assumed about how dark matter interacts with itself.

Heymans, the first woman to be appointed to the role, hopes to give kids and others the chance to appreciate the stars.

From Phys.org, Aug. 31: The Dark Energy Camera (DECam) developed and tested at Fermilab continues to make important discoveries. Astronomers have captured galaxy Centaurus A over 12 million light-years away and its size and proximity to Earth make it one of the best-studied giant galaxies in the night sky.

From the Patch Across America, Aug. 13, 2021: LIGO communications specialist Corey Gray translated gravitational wave astronomy to speakers of the indigenous Blackfoot language with the help of his mother. The story recounts his journey connecting the Blackfoot language to gravitational wave astronomy and details on his virtual event with Fermilab on Aug. 20.

Whether in Serbia or Chicago, Fermilab postdoctoral researcher Aleksandra Ćiprijanović is working to unlock the secrets of the night sky. As a member of the Deep Skies Lab, an international collaboration of physicists, she’s figuring out how to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to better handle the huge amounts of data needed for discovery science.

From Tech2.org, Feb. 16, 2021: Though the findings from the Holometer mean that, for now, scientists still haven’t found a way to solve general relativity with quantum mechanics, its design and the research it enabled will shape future efforts to prove the intersection of relativity and quantum mechanics at Planck scales.