Spotlight on Astronomy

Rachel Bean, associate professor of astronomy and director of graduate studies, was elected for her contributions to the understanding of dark energy and her cosmological observations to constrain physics beyond the Standard Model of physics.

To find the detailed building blocks of life in the cosmos, a new, third-generation instrument will be placed on NASA’s SOFIA – the airliner-based Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy.

Prof. Lisa Kaltenegger has been named the first recipient of the Barrie Jones Award from The Open University (OU), United Kingdom, and the Astrobiology Society of Britain (ASB).

Got a question? Ask an Astronomer! Wondering if galaxies can travel away from us faster than the speed of light, or why there are high tides at the full moon? The answers to these and other questions are only a mouse click away at the Ask an Astronomer website.

If you’re expecting to hear from aliens from across the universe, it could be a while.

Alexander Hayes speaks on Titan on TEDxCornellTech

Hayes will be presented with the award at the inaugural ceremony of the 41st COSPAR Scientific Assembly on August 1 in Istanbul, Turkey.

“Habitable Zones of Post-Main Sequence Stars,” will be published May 16 in the Astrophysical Journal.