Astronomy
Harvard Scientists to Help Lead NASA’s New SPHEREx Mission
Scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics are leading a major part of NASA’s new SPHEREx mission to study how water and other molecules form in space and may reach planets like Earth.
Researchers Discover Supermassive Black Hole in Neighboring Galaxy
A team of Harvard astrophysicists discovered a supermassive black hole at the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Milky Way’s closest galactic neighbor.
Draper Labs Sets Sights on a Far-Side Moon Landing Next Year
Cambridge-based Draper Labs is set to launch their NASA-funded CP-12 mission in 2026, racing Texas-based Firefly Aerospace to complete the United States’ first landing on the far side of the moon.
Kip Thorne, 2017 Nobel Laureate, Talks Black Holes During Inaugural Hawking Lecture
Hundreds packed Science Center Hall B to watch Kip S. Thorne, a professor of theoretical physics at Caltech and a 2017 Nobel Prize laureate, discuss black holes and wormholes during the inaugural Hawking Lecture on Friday.
‘Share the Universe’: Harvard Astronomy Club Holds Rare Comet Viewing
Dozens of students gathered at Harvard’s Loomis-Michael Observatory on Thursday and Friday for a rare viewing of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, a “naked-eye visible comet” that researchers say is unlikely to return for at least 80,000 years.
David Charbonneau, Professor in Search of Planets in Outer Space, Wins $1 Million Kavli Prize
Harvard Astrophysics professor David Charbonneau won the 2024 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics in June, sharing a $1 million prize with MIT professor Sara Seager for their discoveries of exoplanets — planets located outside Earth’s solar system.
Harvard Center for Astrophysics Facing Financial Strain Following NASA Budget Cuts
The Center for Astrophysics — a collaboration with the Smithsonian Museum and one of Harvard’s top research centers — is facing a declining budget following NASA’s proposal to reduce The Chandra X-ray Observatory’s fiscal year 2025 budget.
‘More Important Than School’: Harvard Affiliates Skip Class and Town To View Solar Eclipse
Harvard students seemed to be everywhere but the classroom on Monday, as undergraduates admired the total solar eclipse. Some gathered on campus to view the rare celestial event, but others traveled further — to Vermont, Arkansas, and Texas — to enjoy the eclipse from the path of totality.
Harvard Center for Astrophysics to Close Wolbach Library Due to ‘Financial Considerations’
The John G. Wolbach Library — which carries one of the world’s largest astronomical collections — will shutter its doors on Friday, in a move that was “driven primarily by financial considerations,” according to an email from Harvard Center for Astrophysics Director Lisa Kewley.
Harvard Astronomer Avi Loeb, Team Find Spherules of ‘Likely Extrasolar Composition’
Harvard Astronomy professor Abraham “Avi” Loeb and his research team have found metallic spherules of “likely extrasolar composition,” according to an Aug. 29 preprint posted to the online paper repository arXiv.
Astronomer Owen Gingerich, Defender of Pluto and Scientist With Spirituality, Dies at 93
Upon his retirement in 2000 after a 40 year-long career, Harvard professor Owen J. Gingerich had, with astronomer David W. Latham, taught the longest-running Harvard course under continuous leadership. He died on May 28, 2023 at the age of 93.
In Photos: STAHR-Gazing at the Loomis-Michael Observatory
The Crimson Multimedia staff visit the Loomis-Michael Observatory on the 10th floor of the Science Center to take in the space and gaze at the stars.
Harvard and MIT Researchers Find Limitations in Current Models of Exoplanet Atmospheres
A team of Harvard and MIT researchers have discovered accuracy limitations in climate models used to describe the properties of exoplanets — planets outside the solar system — given an influx of cosmic data from the newly launched James Webb Space Telescope.
Lisa Kewley to Serve as Director of Harvard's Center for Astrophysics
Lisa J. Kewley will serve as the next director of Harvard’s Center for Astrophysics, a collaboration between the Harvard College Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Radcliffe Institute Fellow Challenges Classical Model of Planet Formation
Joan R. Najita ’85, a fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, challenged the widely-held understanding of how planets form at a virtual research presentation on Wednesday.
Student Astronomers at Harvard-Radcliffe
The Loomis-Michael Observatory is lit up red as the telescope captures the Orion Nebula. The observatory, located on the 10th floor of the Science Center, is run by Student Astronomers at Harvard-Radcliffe.
Harvard Prof. Loeb Launches ‘Galileo Project,’ Systematic Hunt for Signs of Extraterrestrial Life
In a move that some of his peers consider risky but rewarding, Harvard professor and astrophysicist Abraham “Avi” Loeb last month launched a systematic search for artifacts or active technology created by extraterrestrial beings, called the “Galileo Project.”
Chicxulub Impactor that Killed the Dinosaurs Was A Comet Fragment, Not An Asteroid, Harvard Researchers Theorize
Harvard astrophysicists proposed a new model showing that the Chicxulub impactor — the celestial body responsible for the mass extinction of the dinosaurs — could have been of cometary, rather than asteroidal origin, in a study published in Scientific Reports on Monday.
Harvard Researchers Confirm First Earth-Sized Exoplanet in Habitable Zone
Researchers at Harvard, MIT, and other institutions used a new telescope to confirm the existence of the first Earth-sized planet outside our solar system in a habitable zone, a step toward understanding how life formed on Earth and could form in other solar systems.
Astronomy Professor Discusses Mystery of Increasingly Expanding Universe
Paul Martini, an astronomy professor at Ohio State University, discussed the mystery of cosmic acceleration at a Radcliffe Fellows event Wednesday.
Harvard Scientists Reconsider the Possibility of Life on Venus
Researchers at Harvard, the Paris Observatory, and MIT, among other institutions, have found that Venus’s atmosphere may not contain phosphine gas, a possible indicator of life, contradicting the results of a study published last month.
Astronomers Estimate Spin of Supermassive Black Hole in the Milky Way
Researchers at Harvard and Northwestern University derived the first tight limit for the spin of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
Harvard Visualization Scientist Helps Translate Space Images Into Music
A scientist from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the SYSTEM Sounds team created a new technique that turns cosmic images into music.
Center for Astrophysics Collaborates to Study Star’s Spaghettification: Death By Black Hole
Scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics collaborated to publish a paper on a star’s spaghettification, the process in which a star is ripped apart by a black hole, last Monday.