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N.R.E.L. A concentrating photovoltaic system uses a dense array of high-efficiency silicon cells.

A Solar Technology Seeks Its Day in the Sun
November 17, 2009; The New York Times, by John Collins Rudolf

A NASA graphic traces the asteroid 2009 VA's path within the moon's orbit and past Earth.

Space Rock Buzzes Past Earth
November 11, 2009; MSNBC Cosmic Log, by Alan Boyle

"The questions of life's origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very suitable and deserve serious consideration," said the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, an astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory.

Vatican looks to sky for signs of alien life
November 11, 2009; Arizona Daily Star, the Associated Press

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope captured this infrared image of a giant halo of very fine dust around the young star HR 8799, located 129 light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. The brightest parts of this dust cloud (yellow-white) likely come from the outer cold disk similar to our own Kuiper belt (beyond Neptune's orbit). The huge extended dust halo is seen as orange-red.

Wild solar system spotted around distant star
November 10, 2009; MSNBC

UA student members of SEDS, or Students for the Exploration and Development of Space have organized what looks to be one of the year's premier space conferences. They're hosting it at the Lunar and Planetary Lab.

SEDS Students Host SpaceVision 2009 Conference at UA
November 5, 2009; UA News, Lori Stiles

The Steward Observatory Mirror Lab, already known for its production of giant, lightweight mirrors for next generation telescopes, has completed the first prototype of a solar device developed by founder and scientific director Roger Angel. It is hoped that this device will eventually enable the production of solar electricity at a price to rival even the cheapest of fossil fuels.

University of Arizona device could make solar power cheaper
October 31, 2009; Arizona Daily Star

Artist conception of the Giant Magellan Telescope.

Race for the Heavens
October 23, 2009; Science Magazine, Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, will plunge into a crater near in the south polar region of the moon at 4:30 a.m. Arizona time Oct. 9. (Illustration: NASA)

Southern Arizona Telescopes Will Point at Lunar Impact Early Friday
October 6, 2009; UA News, Lori Stiles

Extensive image processing of images taken by the LCROSS shepherding spacecraft 15 seconds after the Centaur rocket's demise reveals a dim debris plume (6 to 8 km across) in the shadowed part of Cabeus crater (NASA).See also: The LCROSS Impact, Continued
October 9-17, 2009; Sky and Telescope Magazine, by Alan MacRobert

Fulvio Melia, professor of physics and astronomy at the UA, has written a book about how one of the great puzzles of science was finally unraveled.

Book Details Unraveling of Einstein Code
October 5, 2009; UA News, Chris Schafer

Senior operations engineer Dan Long loads the first cartridge of the night into the Sloan Digital Sky Survey telescope. The cartridge holds "plug-plates" at the top which then holds a thousand optical fibers shown in red and blue. These cartridges are locked into the base of the telescope and are changed many times during a night. (Photo: Dan Long, SDSS-III)

Astronomers Begin New Search for Dark Energy
October 1, 2009; UA News, Lori Stiles

The known universe could be very thin in an extra dimension other than the familiar three dimensions of space.Credit: J. Korenblat; NASA

Hunting Hidden Dimensions: Black holes, giant and tiny, may reveal new realms of space
September 26, 2009; Science News, Diana Steele

Davé is an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory with a research focus on, among other things, how new galaxies form.

NASA's Spitzer Spots Clump of Swirling Planetary Material
September 23, 2009; Jet Propulsion Laboratory Press Release, Whitney Clavin

Davé is an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory with a research focus on, among other things, how new galaxies form.

Steward Astronomer Doubles as Bon Vivant
September 23, 2009; Lo Que Pasa, Jeff Harrison

Variations in the flux of neutrons suggests variability in water content among craters.NASA / Institute for Space Research (Moscow)

Water on the Moon?
September 18, 2009; Nature News, Eric Hand

The University of Arizona's Mount Lemmon SkyCenter at sunset. (Photo: Adam Block, Mount Lemmon SkyCenter)

Fall SkyNights, Discovery Days Are Special on Mount Lemmon
September 18, 2009; UA News, Lori Stiles

Near Infra-Red Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) Project - Steward Observatory, University of Arizona

Astronomers' hopes high for spectrometer
September 10, 2009; Arizona Daily Star, Tom Beal

The Steward Observatory has held its lecture series for more than 80 years, exploring a range of topics relevant to the field of astronomy. (Credit: Jackie Alpers)

Steward Observatory Lecture Series Begins Next Week
September 10, 2009; UA News, University Communications

Sloan Digital Sky Survey: In its first two days, the new computerized star atlas collected more data than was gathered in all the previous history of astronomy.

A Data Deluge Swamps Science Historians
August 28, 2009; Wall Street Journal, Robert Lee Hotz

The Mirror Lab rotating furnace hit peak temperatures on Aug. 26, 2009, melting borosilicate glass so it flowed around 1,020 hexagonal cores. The cores give the mirror its honeycomb structure. (Photo: Lori Stiles)

Telescope Mirror Casting Strengthens Scientific Ties Between U.S. and Mexico
August 26, 2009; UA News, Lori Stiles

Casting team members at the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab loading 22,500 pounds of E6 Ohara borosilicate glass into the 6.5-meter honeycomb mold for the San Pedro Mártir Telescope mirror. Ray Bertram, Steward Observatory, University of ArizonaSee also: Mirror cast for Mexican 6.5-meter infrared telescope
August 28, 2009; Astronomy Magazine, Provided by UC Berkeley

Damon Jackson instala columnas dentro de la estructura del molde, donde se fundirá el espejo de 6.5 metros que formará parte de un telescopio en San Pedro Mártir.See also: Con la mira puesta en el universo
August 21, 2009; La Estrella de Tucsón, Natalia Lopera

View from a telescope at San Pedro Martir Observatory, Mexico. (Photo: University of Arizona/Steward Observatory)See also: Steward Observatory Lab Casts Mirror for San Pedro Mártir Telescope
August 11, 2009; UA News, Lori Stiles

The arrow points to a supernova discovered in a nearby pair of colliding galaxies called the Antennae. The supernova was discovered in the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey that uses data collected by UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory observers using telescopes in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. Click to enlarge image. (Photo: Robert Gendler)

Catalina Sky Survey Spawns Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey
August 21, 2009; UA News, Lori Stiles

Astronomers at this year's meeting of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), held in Rio de Janeiro from August 3rd to 14th, discussed what could be done to halt astronomy's trend towards mining data gathered by computers rather than peering into telescopes. The Rio meeting is the high point of what has been dubbed by the union as the International Year of Astronomy. The reason for picking 2009 to receive this honour is that it is exactly 400 years since Galileo Galilei turned his telescope on the heavens to study what the naked eye could not disclose, and also since Johannes Kepler revealed to the world that planetary orbits are ellipses, not circles. These two events can be seen, in retrospect, as the beginning of modern astronomy.

Black-Sky Thinking
August 13, 2009; The Economist, Rio de Janeiro

Mt. Graham Observatory Summer Program Helps Students
August 12, 2009; Arizona Silverbelt, Apache Moccasin

This photo shows a giant telescope mirror being polished at the University of Arizona. The same technology that produced this mirror would be used to make solar concentrators.

Turning Sunshine Into Megawatts
July 29, 2009; ABC News, Lee Dye

This artist's rendering shows the Giant Magellan Telescope and support facilities at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile, high in the Andes Mountains. (click to enlarge) (Illustration credit: Todd Mason/Mason Productions)

Australia Gets $72 Million for the Giant Magellan Telescope
July 28, 2009; UA News, University Communications

A satellite dish located behind Bear Down Gym The center of the dish is carpeted with optical glass that focuses sunlight to such intensity that it can burn a hole in a piece of steel in seconds.

Concentrated Solar for the Nation
July 22, 2009; UA News, Lew Serviss

Jarita Holbrook / Romeel Dave

UA Scientists' Film Chronicles Minority Astronomers
July 6, 2009; UA News, Jeff Harrison

Interview with Romeel Davé, associate professor of astronomy at Steward Observatory See also: Interview with Romeel Davé, Associate Professor of Astronomy at Steward Observatory
July 9, 2009; Arizona PodCats, Jeff Harrison

A new generation of giant telescopes will carry the eye to the edge of the universe. LBT photograph by Joe McNally

Telescopes: Cosmic Vision
July 2009; National Geographic, Timothy Ferris

LBT photograph by Joe McNallySee also: Cosmic Vision Photo Gallery
July 2009; National Geographic, Joe McNally

LBT photograph by Joe McNallySee also: 400-Year Timeline of Telescope History
July 2009; National Geographic, Joe McNally

 

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