News for May 21, 2012
Notes from the Back Row: "An Explosion of Explosions"

In his Watson Lecture given on April 25, Shri Kulkarni, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Science and the director of the Caltech Optical Observatories, described how Caltech's fully automated Palomar Transient Factory—Kulkarni calls it "Transients 'R' Us"—is revolutionizing how we explore the changing sky.

NASA Lends Ultraviolet Space Telescope to Caltech

Caltech has taken over operation from NASA of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), a space telescope that for the last nine years has been surveying the cosmos in ultraviolet light. In this first agreement of its kind, NASA is lending the telescope to Caltech, which has led the mission and will continue operating and managing it through the support of private funders.

Caltech Students Continue Tradition at the Rose Bowl

The teams that took the field at the Rose Bowl last Friday afternoon were composed of none other than Caltech's own Fleming House denizens, past and present. Continuing a tradition started in 2001, the students took the afternoon off to socialize with their fellow Flems, get to know some alumni, and play a few games of touch football in Myron Hunt's famous stadium.