Caltech

Articles tagged with "astronomy"

05/03/2013

Birth of a Black Hole

Marcus Woo

A new kind of cosmic flash may reveal something never seen before: the birth of a black hole.

05/02/2013

Brown, Farley, and Seinfeld Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Kimm Fesenmaier

Based on their distinguished achievements in original research, three Caltech professors—Mike Brown, Ken Farley, and John Seinfeld—are among the 84 members and 21 foreign associates newly elected

04/17/2013

Astronomers Discover Massive Star Factory in Early Universe

Marcus Woo

PASADENA, Calif.—Smaller begets bigger.

04/08/2013

The Caltech Space Challenge: Mission to a Martian Moon

Marcus Woo

The mission: travel to one of Mars's two moons, explore its surface, collect some rocks, and return to Earth in one piece. Now plan it—in five days.

03/15/2013

Fifty Years of Quasars

Douglas Smith

In a paper published on March 16, 1963, Caltech astronomer Maarten Schmidt announced the discovery of the first quasar (he didn't call it that) and opened a new window through which we can see the very distant universe.

03/15/2013

Two Decades of Discoveries

Marcus Woo

Although Keith Matthews was about to make history, he went about his tasks like any others.

03/13/2013

Bursts of Star Formation in the Early Universe

Marcus Woo

PASADENA, Calif.—Galaxies have been experiencing vigorous bursts of star formation from much earlier in cosmic history than previously thought, according to new observations by a Caltech-led team.

03/12/2013

Astronomers Observe Planets Around Another Star Like Never Before

Marcus Woo

PASADENA, Calif.—Thanks to a new high-tech gadget, astronomers have observed four planets orbiting a star relatively close to the sun in unprecedented detail, revealing the roughly ten-Jupiter-mas

03/05/2013

A Window Into Europa's Ocean Lies Right at the Surface

Kimm Fesenmaier

If you could lick the surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa, you would actually be sampling a bit of the ocean beneath. So says Mike Brown, an astronomer at Caltech. Brown and Kevin Hand from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have found the strongest evidence yet that water from the vast liquid ocean beneath Europa's frozen exterior actually makes its way to the surface.

02/28/2013

Planetary Astronomer Wins Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching

Marcus Woo

John A. Johnson, assistant professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), has been awarded the Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

02/05/2013

Viewing the Cosmos from the South Pole: An Interview with Jamie Bock

Marcus Woo

Almost immediately after the Big Bang—roughly after ten trillionths of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second—the universe suddenly grew. Very fast.