Astrophysicists explain the origin of unusually heavy neutron star binaries
Simulations of supernova explosions of massive stars paired with neutron stars can explain puzzling results from gravitational wave observatories
Astronomers create the first 3D-printed stellar nurseries
Researchers can now hold stellar nurseries in their hands thanks to 3D printing, revealing features often obscured in traditional renderings and animations
Nearby star-forming region yields clues to the formation of our solar system
The Ophiuchus star-forming complex offers an analog for the formation of the solar system, including the sources of elements found in primitive meteorites
Natalie Batalha is appointed the UCSC Presidential Chair
Natalie Batalha, professor of astronomy & astrophysics and director of the Astrobiology Initiative, has received the UCSC Presidential Chair appointment to support her work to unite the sciences, humanities, and arts in a search for evidence of life on earth.
Science Student Olivia Ross Wins Steck Award
Olivia Ross, a recent graduate from UC Santa Cruz, has received the Steck Award for her project, “Searching for Primordial Black Holes.” The Steck Award is given once a year to one UC Santa Cruz undergraduate and their mentor, and recognizes the most outstanding research out of the fifteen Chancellor’s Awardees.
Student Spotlight: Elizabeth Yunerman
Undergraduate physics major Elizabeth Yunerman is the 2021 recipient of the Kenneth & Ann Thimann Scholarship. For student achievement week, we asked her about her time at UC Santa Cruz, her research, and her advise for incoming students.
Astronomers track down fast radio bursts to galaxies’ spiral arms
A new study led by astronomers at UC Santa Cruz has traced the locations of five brief, powerful radio blasts to the spiral arms of five distant galaxies. Called fast radio bursts (FRBs), these extraordinary events generate as much energy in a thousandth of a second as the sun does in a year.
Temperamental supernova appeared strangely cool before exploding
A curiously yellow star has caused astrophysicists to reevaluate the possible pathways that can lead to the explosion of a massive star as a supernova.
Baked meteorites yield clues to planetary atmospheres
The gases released from meteorite samples heated in a high-temperature furnace can tell scientists about the initial composition of the atmospheres of rocky exoplanets.
Original story from UCSC Newscenter.
What Hollywood gets wrong (and right!) about protecting the Earth from asteroids
UC Santa Cruz alumna Kirsten Howley is an astrophysicist working as part of a planetary defense team that has been tasked with preventing a real-life ‘Armageddon’
Life on Earth may have begun in hostile hot springs
Understanding the origins of life on this planet could offer hints about where to search for life elsewhere, says Natalie Batalha, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “It has very significant implications for the future of space exploration.”
Original story from Science News.
New observations of black hole devouring a star reveal rapid disk formation
New TDE observations led by astronomers at UC Santa Cruz now provide clear evidence that debris from the star forms a rotating disk, called an accretion disk, around the black hole. Theorists have been debating whether an accretion disk can form efficiently during a tidal disruption event, and the new findings should help resolve that question.