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The Universe in the Middle of Nowhere

By Guest PostFebruary 17, 2013Culture, General, Scienceastronomy, atomic nuclei, big bang theory, buddhist monastics, buddhist philosophy, chris impey, conflict, cosmology, dalai lama, dharamsala, early universe, earth, ed prather, einstein, finite, forms of religion, fundamental buddhist precepts, gail burd, Galaxy, geological happenings, geshe lhakdor, geshe yeshi choephel, harmonious meeting, hubble expansion, human history, India, infinite, jime gyatso, john templeton foundation, knowledge, mathematics, mexican wrestling masks, middle, model atomic nuclei, modern science, monks program, neuroscience, ngawang lobsang, nowhere, quantum physics, relativity, Science, science and technology, science religion conflict, scientific inquiry, sonam choephel, space and time, spiritual leader, steward observatory, thabke lodoe, tibetan buddhist monastics, tibetan people, tibetan works, universe, university of arizona, weak nuclear force, western educators, zoob

The UA’s Chris Impey has taught cosmology to Tibetan Buddhist monastics in remote parts of India each summer for the past five years. With a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, he detailed his experiences in a book, “Humble Before the Void,” which likely will publish in 2014.

Chris Impey thinks back to the time he spent living on the edge of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, teaching modern cosmology to Buddhist monastics in India: “On a typical day, they would be up at 5 a.m. and have prayed for a few hours or done meditation before you even see them. And their attention is just as good at the end of a long day as at the beginning.” (more…)

Scientists Prepare to Take First-Ever Picture of a Black Hole

By Guest PostJanuary 16, 2012Scienceabyss of space, albert einstein, alma, arizona, astrophysicists, atacama large millimeter array, atmosphere, black hole, black void, center of milky way, Chile, cosmic traffic jam, dan marrone, daniel stolte, dimitrios psaltis, earth, einstein, event horizon, event horizon telescope, extreme environment, field of gravity, game changer, general relativity, global array, hawaii, haystack observatory, maelstroms, mass, massachusetts institute of technology, mauna kea, mercury, Mexico, MIT, mt graham, nothingness, optical telescopes, plasma, radio telescopes, radio waves, shadow, sheperd doeleman, south pole, space and time, steward observatory, sun, supermassive black hole, theory of general relativity, tucson, ultra precise timing, universe, university of arizona, virtual telescope, water vapor, wavelengths

*The Event Horizon Telescope is an Earth-sized virtual telescope powerful enough to see all the way to the center of our Milky Way, where a supermassive black hole will allow astrophysicists to put Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity to the test.*

Astronomers, physicists and scientists from related fields across the world will convene in Tucson, Ariz. on Jan. 18 to discuss an endeavor that only a few years ago would have been regarded as nothing less than outrageous.

The conference is organized by Dimitrios Psaltis, an associate professor of astrophysics at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory, and Dan Marrone, an assistant professor of astronomy at Steward Observatory. (more…)

Lifting Space Exploration to New Heights

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2011Sciencealien planets, atmosphere, chris walker, craig kulesa, evolution and architecture of planetary systems, exoplanetary circumstellar environments and disk explorer, explorer, george rieke, glenn schneider, glow of the sky at sundown, habitable zone, high altitude balloon, laird close, large magellanic cloud, michael lesser, milky way galaxy, NASA, olivier guyon, philip hinz, research balloon, roger angel, signposts, space telescope, steward observatory, stratospheric thz observatory, university of arizona, zodiacal light

*A new space telescope designed to peer into the inner reaches of far-away solar systems and a balloon riding the jet stream 120,000 feet above ground are two UA research proposals selected by NASA for further evaluation as potential future science missions.*

A research balloon circling the Earth in the outer fringes of the atmosphere and a space telescope peering through the dust swirls of far-away solar systems in search of alien planets are among the winning proposals selected by NASA for further study as part of NASA’s Explorer Mission program.

Both project proposals, called EXCEDE and GUSSTO, are led by astronomers at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory and are among 11 selected by NASA for evaluation as potential future science missions. (more…)

Astrophysicists Find Evidence of Black Holes Ripping Stars Apart

By Guest PostOctober 17, 2011Scienceaccretion disk, active galactic nuclei, astrophysicists, black holes, chaotic orbits, cosmologists, dennis zaritsky, destroying stars, evidence of black holes, intermediate mass, johns hopkins university's, large galaxies, sdss, sloan digital sky survey, steward observatory, super-massive black hole, suvi gezari, university of arizona

*Sifting through observation data obtained of more than 2 million galaxies, a research team including UA astronomer Dennis Zaritsky has discovered phenomena telling of stars dying a violent death.

Astrophysicists at the University of Arizona and elsewhere have found evidence of black holes destroying stars, a long-sought phenomenon that provides a new window into general relativity.

The research, reported in the latest issue of the Astrophysical Journal, also opens up a method to search for the possible existence of a large population of presently undetectable “intermediate mass” black holes, which are hypothesized to be precursors to the super-massive black holes at the centers of most large galaxies. (more…)

Tag Archives: steward observatory

The Universe in the Middle of Nowhere

Scientists Prepare to Take First-Ever Picture of a Black Hole

Lifting Space Exploration to New Heights

Astrophysicists Find Evidence of Black Holes Ripping Stars Apart

*Sifting through observation data obtained of more than 2 million galaxies, a research team including UA astronomer Dennis Zaritsky has discovered phenomena telling of stars dying a violent death.