Astronomy
‘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.
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.
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.
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.
Graphic Novel Creators Talk Power of Science Comics at Center for Astrophysics Observatory Night
Writer Jim Ottaviani and writer and illustrator Maris Wicks spoke about how science comics can be a powerful tool for storytelling at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’s final 2020 Observatory Night on Thursday.
Astronomers Preview Giant Magellan Telescope, Discuss Extraterrestrial Life at DRCLAS Event
Astronomers from across the globe previewed the Giant Magellan Telescope, which is currently under construction at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, at Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies Wednesday evening.
Earth-Skimming Meteor May Have Brought Life to Venus, Harvard Researchers Say
Meteors that grazed Earth’s atmosphere could have brought microbial life from Earth to Venus, Harvard professor Avi Loeb and student Amir Siraj '22 hypothesized in a new study.
Harvard Researchers Discover Wobbling Shadow of Supermassive Black Hole
Harvard astrophysicists have discovered that the crescent-like shadow of the Messier 87 (M87*) black hole appears to be wobbling.
Harvard Astronomy Chair Nominated for President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
Harvard Astronomy department chair Abraham Loeb was nominated to be a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology on Monday.
Harvard Astrophysicists Detect Binary White Dwarf System Generating Gravitational Waves
Researchers at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics discovered a pair of white dwarf stars that orbit each other and produce gravitational waves — the first wave source of this type ever found.
Harvard Physicists Refine Images of Black Hole
A team led by scientists at the Harvard Black Hole Initiative published an article Wednesday outlining a method to simulate sharper images of a black hole.
Harvard, Vanderbilt Scientists Find “Stellar Budget” for Colliding Stars
Scientists at Harvard and Vanderbilt University released a study showing that only a fraction of stars eventually collide as black holes on Friday.