Russia aims to restore prestige in race to moon’s south pole The Wall Street Journal Russia aims to restore prestige in race to moon’s south pole Benjamin L. Schmitt of the School of Arts & Sciences and the Weitzman School of Design says that sentiment in the scientific and astronaut communities has begun to shift toward a future in which NASA and Roscosmos are no longer close partners. Could the age of the universe be twice as old as current estimates suggest? NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is rich with detail. Thousands of galaxies—including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared—have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it. Webb’s Near-Infra Red Cam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus—they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features. (Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI) Could the age of the universe be twice as old as current estimates suggest? Penn Professors Vijay Balasubramanian and Mark Devlin offer a broader understanding of a recent paper’s claim that the universe could be 26.7 billion years old. Euclid Space Telescope launches exciting new possibilities The European Space Agency’s latest astrophysics mission, Euclid, lifted off on a Space X Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, at 17:12 CEST on 1 July 2023. Euclid has now started its month-long journey to Sun-Earth Lagrange point L2, located 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, in the opposite direction from the Sun. (Image: iStock / Robert Michaud) Euclid Space Telescope launches exciting new possibilities Professors of physics and astronomy Bhuvnesh Jain, Mark Trodden, and Gary Bernstein discuss the coming research findings from the European Space Agency’s Euclid Space Telescope. A grant to upgrade Simons Observatory The Devlin lab are working on creating an extremely cold environment (nearly -460 degrees Fahrenheit) so that the new Simons Observatory can detect cosmic microwave background (CMB), the residual radiation left behind by the Big Bang. Work done at the High Bay is essential for keeping the project from falling further behind after shutdown delays. nocred A grant to upgrade Simons Observatory Mark Devlin and colleagues have been awarded an NSF grant to upgrade the prominent observatory in the high Atacama Desert in Northern Chile. New findings reveal the most detailed mass map of dark matter nocred New findings reveal the most detailed mass map of dark matter Research led by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration maps the universe’s cosmic growth supporting Einstein's theory of general relativity. New neutrino detection method A view inside the SNO detector when filled with water. In the background, there are 9,000 photomultiplier tubes that detect photons and the acrylic vessel that (now) holds liquid scintillator. The ropes that crisscross on the outside hold it down when the scintillator is added to prevent it from floating upwards. The acrylic vessel is 12 m wide, about half the width of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The detector is located in SNOLAB, a research facility located 2km underground near Sudbury, Canada. (Image: SNO+ Collaboration) New neutrino detection method Research by Joshua Klein of the School of Arts & Science and an international team has found a way to detect distant subatomic particles using water. Who, What, Why: Sarah Kane on the sonification of astronomical data Eric Sucar Who, What, Why Who, What, Why: Sarah Kane on the sonification of astronomical data Fourth-year Sarah Kane participates in research mapping the galaxy and converting astronomical data into sound for the visually impaired. Audio astronomy unlocks a universe of sound Scientific American Audio astronomy unlocks a universe of sound College of Arts and Sciences fourth-year Sarah Kane discusses her use of data analysis and machine learning to circumvent her blindness in studying astronomy. Two Penn fourth-years and an alumna named 2023 Marshall Scholars 2023 Marshall Scholars Sarah Kane, Amy Krimm, and Carson Eckhard. Two Penn fourth-years and an alumna named 2023 Marshall Scholars Fourth-years Sarah Kane and Amy Krimm are in the College of Arts and Sciences, as was 2021 graduate Carson Eckhard. UK joins international effort to uncover first moments of the universe The Guardian UK joins international effort to uncover first moments of the universe In a statement for the Simons Observatory, Mark Devlin of the School of Arts & Sciences says that new telescopes and researchers from the UK will make a significant addition to their efforts to examine the origins of the universe. Load More
Could the age of the universe be twice as old as current estimates suggest? NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is rich with detail. Thousands of galaxies—including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared—have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it. Webb’s Near-Infra Red Cam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus—they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features. (Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI) Could the age of the universe be twice as old as current estimates suggest? Penn Professors Vijay Balasubramanian and Mark Devlin offer a broader understanding of a recent paper’s claim that the universe could be 26.7 billion years old.
Euclid Space Telescope launches exciting new possibilities The European Space Agency’s latest astrophysics mission, Euclid, lifted off on a Space X Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, at 17:12 CEST on 1 July 2023. Euclid has now started its month-long journey to Sun-Earth Lagrange point L2, located 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, in the opposite direction from the Sun. (Image: iStock / Robert Michaud) Euclid Space Telescope launches exciting new possibilities Professors of physics and astronomy Bhuvnesh Jain, Mark Trodden, and Gary Bernstein discuss the coming research findings from the European Space Agency’s Euclid Space Telescope.
A grant to upgrade Simons Observatory The Devlin lab are working on creating an extremely cold environment (nearly -460 degrees Fahrenheit) so that the new Simons Observatory can detect cosmic microwave background (CMB), the residual radiation left behind by the Big Bang. Work done at the High Bay is essential for keeping the project from falling further behind after shutdown delays. nocred A grant to upgrade Simons Observatory Mark Devlin and colleagues have been awarded an NSF grant to upgrade the prominent observatory in the high Atacama Desert in Northern Chile.
New findings reveal the most detailed mass map of dark matter nocred New findings reveal the most detailed mass map of dark matter Research led by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration maps the universe’s cosmic growth supporting Einstein's theory of general relativity.
New neutrino detection method A view inside the SNO detector when filled with water. In the background, there are 9,000 photomultiplier tubes that detect photons and the acrylic vessel that (now) holds liquid scintillator. The ropes that crisscross on the outside hold it down when the scintillator is added to prevent it from floating upwards. The acrylic vessel is 12 m wide, about half the width of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The detector is located in SNOLAB, a research facility located 2km underground near Sudbury, Canada. (Image: SNO+ Collaboration) New neutrino detection method Research by Joshua Klein of the School of Arts & Science and an international team has found a way to detect distant subatomic particles using water.
Who, What, Why: Sarah Kane on the sonification of astronomical data Eric Sucar Who, What, Why Who, What, Why: Sarah Kane on the sonification of astronomical data Fourth-year Sarah Kane participates in research mapping the galaxy and converting astronomical data into sound for the visually impaired.
Audio astronomy unlocks a universe of sound Scientific American Audio astronomy unlocks a universe of sound College of Arts and Sciences fourth-year Sarah Kane discusses her use of data analysis and machine learning to circumvent her blindness in studying astronomy. Two Penn fourth-years and an alumna named 2023 Marshall Scholars 2023 Marshall Scholars Sarah Kane, Amy Krimm, and Carson Eckhard. Two Penn fourth-years and an alumna named 2023 Marshall Scholars Fourth-years Sarah Kane and Amy Krimm are in the College of Arts and Sciences, as was 2021 graduate Carson Eckhard. UK joins international effort to uncover first moments of the universe The Guardian UK joins international effort to uncover first moments of the universe In a statement for the Simons Observatory, Mark Devlin of the School of Arts & Sciences says that new telescopes and researchers from the UK will make a significant addition to their efforts to examine the origins of the universe. Load More
Two Penn fourth-years and an alumna named 2023 Marshall Scholars 2023 Marshall Scholars Sarah Kane, Amy Krimm, and Carson Eckhard. Two Penn fourth-years and an alumna named 2023 Marshall Scholars Fourth-years Sarah Kane and Amy Krimm are in the College of Arts and Sciences, as was 2021 graduate Carson Eckhard.
UK joins international effort to uncover first moments of the universe The Guardian UK joins international effort to uncover first moments of the universe In a statement for the Simons Observatory, Mark Devlin of the School of Arts & Sciences says that new telescopes and researchers from the UK will make a significant addition to their efforts to examine the origins of the universe.