Public Viewing
Painter Hall - 9"
RLM Hall - 16"
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Calendars
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Special Colloquium
Tel Aviv University
Young Embedded Super Star Clusters
Wed 7/1
3:30 PM
RLM 15.216B
McDonald Observatory
Hear a podcast interview of
Astronomer Tom Barnes by Shay Cannedy of the Bob Bullock Museum
McDonald Observatory Press Release
29 June 2009
Austin, TX-- In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin will host a speaker event on Wednesday July 1, from 12:00-1:00 p.m. featuring McDonald Observatory astronomer Tom Barnes. The event is free and open to the public. The talk, titled, "McDonald Observatory Celebrates 70 Years of History in the International Year of Astronomy" will be presented as part of the museum's monthly, free High Noon Talks series. Barnes will present the storied history of the observatory, which includes a lawsuit between antagonistic heirs and the University of Texas, a Russian scientist whom the observatory's neighbors of the 1930s viewed as a welcome alternative to a Yankee, and a slew of first-rate astronomical discoveries made right here in Texas. more..
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
International Year of Astronomy 2009
Galileo [space-time grid-LSST]
San Antonio Public IYA Lecture to be Given by Neal Evans: 'Time, Space, & Galileo'
McDonald Observatory Press Release
11 June 2009
San Antonio, TX-- In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA), the Witte Museum in San Antonio will host a speaker event at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 21 featuring University of Texas at Austin astronomer Neal Evans. Evans' talk, titled "Time, Space, & Galileo," will examine the relationship between astronomy and time and explain advances in astronomy that have allowed us to peer into the past to determine the exact age of the universe, and study events that happened within fractions of a second after its creation. The talk dovetails with the Witte's new exhibit "Playing With Time." more..
International Year of Astronomy 2009
McDonald Observatory Press Release
8 June 2009
Pasadena, CA-- Astronomers Karl Gebhardt (The University of Texas at Austin) and Jens Thomas (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics) have used new computer modeling techniques to discover that the black hole at the heart of M87, one the largest nearby giant galaxies, is two to three times more massive than previously thought. Weighing in at 6.4 billion times the Sun's mass, it is the most massive black hole yet measured with a robust technique, and suggests that the accepted black hole masses in nearby large galaxies may be off by similar amounts. This has consequences for theories of how galaxies form and grow, and might even solve a long-standing astronomical paradox. more..
Background
StarDate Online: Black Hole Encyclopedia: M87
NRAO Radio Views of M87
Blanc, Jeong, Murphy Win Departmental Awards, Shen Wins Award from China
20 May 2009
For outstanding service to the department, Guillermo Blanc has won the Fred Goetting Memorial Endowed Presidential Scholarship for 2009-2010. For excellence in research, Donghui Jeong, has been awarded the David Benfield Memorial Scholarship in Astronomy. The Frank Edmonds Memorial Fellowship, supporting promising researchers, is awarded to Jeremy Murphy. At the Chinese Consulate in Houston, the 2008 Chinese Government Scholarship for Outstanding Self-financed Students Studying Abroad was awarded to Rongfeng Shen, for sound achievement and performance in study. The Chinese award was extended to 305 recipients in 30 countries.
McDonald Observatory and the University of Texas
McDonald Observatory operates in association with the Department of Astronomy, and is one of the world's leading centers for
astronomical research, education and public outreach. The activities of the faculty and staff span virtually all areas of modern
astronomy. Located in the Davis Mountains of west Texas, the observatory accommodates more than 100,000 visitors each
year, offering activities and programs for every level of interest.
