11/15
Astronomy
Dark Energy Survey interim analysis sheds light on the evolution of the universe
Dark Energy Survey interim analysis sheds light on the evolution of the universe
Analysis of the survey’s first three years of data, which were used to make the most precise 3D map of the universe to date, is a key step towards understanding dark matter and dark energy.
Beyond topological insulators
Beyond topological insulators
Charlie Kane and Eugene Mele’s groundbreaking theories on the existence of a new class of materials continues to inspire an upcoming generation of physics researchers.
27 million galaxy morphologies quantified and cataloged with the help of machine learning
27 million galaxy morphologies quantified and cataloged with the help of machine learning
Using data from the Dark Energy Survey, researchers from the Department of Physics & Astronomy produced the largest catalog of galaxy morphology classifications to date.
The outlook for science under the Biden-Harris administration
The outlook for science under the Biden-Harris administration
Penn Today spoke with experts in various areas of science and environmental policy about what they anticipate will shift now that President Biden has assumed the nation’s leadership.
Metamaterial tiles boost sensitivity of large telescopes
Research on a low-cost, mass producible technology is poised to help the Simons Observatory uncover new insights into how the universe began.
Dark Energy Survey makes public catalog of nearly 700 million astronomical objects
With the goal of understanding dark energy and the accelerating expansion of the universe, DES released six years of data, representing one of the largest galaxy surveys published to date.
A rare celestial treat on the winter solstice
A rare celestial treat on the winter solstice
Four tips and takeaways from astronomer Cullen Blake on the upcoming alignment of Jupiter and Saturn and how to best catch a glimpse of the “great conjunction.”
Evidence of broadside collision with a dwarf galaxy discovered in the Milky Way
Evidence of broadside collision with a dwarf galaxy discovered in the Milky Way
“Shell structures,” the result of a collision with another galaxy nearly 3 billion years, have been confirmed in the Milky Way galaxy for the first time.
Did scientists detect chemical signals from Venusian microorganisms?
Four takeaways from astronomer Cullen Blake on what this potentially groundbreaking study shows and what comes next for scientists who are keen to understand these faraway chemical signals.
New stellar stream, born outside the Milky Way, discovered with machine learning
New stellar stream, born outside the Milky Way, discovered with machine learning
Finding this new stellar stream, named after Nyx, the Greek goddess of night, was made possible using machine learning tools and simulations of data collected by the Gaia space observatory.
In the News
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.
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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.
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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.
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Space
The ‘megacomet’ Bernardinelli-Bernstein is the find of a decade. Here’s the discovery explained
Pedro Bernardinelli and Gary Bernstein of the School of Arts & Sciences comment on being an unlikely pair to have discovered the largest icy-bodied comet which is named in their honor.
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USA Today
Fact check: 62-mile-wide mega comet unlikely to hit Earth, will just pass by it in 2031
Pedro Bernardinelli and Gary Bernstein of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about the giant comet they recently discovered. “There is no possibility of this thing getting any closer to Earth than Saturn gets,” said Bernstein.
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USA Today
The largest comet ever discovered in modern times is zooming toward the sun
Gary Bernstein of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about the giant comet he and Ph.D. candidate Pedro Bernardinelli discovered. "We have the privilege of having discovered perhaps the largest comet ever seen—or at least larger than any well-studied one—and caught it early enough for people to watch it evolve as it approaches and warms up," Bernstein said.
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