Research
ZFOURGE Survey Charts Rise and Fall of Galaxy Formation Across Cosmic History
COLLEGE STATION — In one of the most sensitive measurements to date, an international team of astronomers has charted the rise and fall of galaxies across 90 percent of cosmic history in the FourStar Galaxy Evolution Survey (ZFOURGE), the complete results of which were publically unveiled today (August 30) for the first time. Texas A&M […]
Texas A&M Physics Team Logs First-Place Finish in 2016 SAT Competition
COLLEGE STATION — As the saying goes in Aggieland, if you do something once at Texas A&M University, it’s a tradition. Consider another one added to the list, now that a trio of Texas A&M physicists has taken first place in the incomplete unweighted Max-SAT random track solvers category of the 2016 Satisfiability (SAT) Competition, […]
NASA’s Hubble Finds Universe Expanding Faster Than Expected
BALTIMORE — A team of astronomers including four from Texas A&M University has discovered that the universe is expanding 5 to 9 percent faster than expected, based on observations with the Hubble Space Telescope. The surprising result, to be detailed in an upcoming issue of The Astrophysical Journal, represents the most recent advance in a […]
Texas A&M Professor Realizes Life Purpose, Global Potential Through Physics
COLLEGE STATION — EDITOR’S NOTE: Last November, Texas A&M University President Michael K. Young announced a new $4 billion comprehensive campaign, Lead by Example, that will cement Texas A&M as a world leader in solving great global challenges. The following story largely is excerpted from the version that originally appeared in the Texas A&M Foundation’s […]
Local Photography Exhibit to Feature Two Original Hubble Glass Plates
COLLEGE STATION — When the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History kicks off its most recent exhibition, Capturing Time: The Story of Early Photography on Thursday (Jan. 28), a portion of the spotlight will be shining on astronomy connections, past and present. Texas A&M University astronomer Nicholas B. Suntzeff says the exhibit represents a […]
Scully Named Fellow of National Academy of Inventors
COLLEGE STATION — Marlan O. Scully, distinguished professor of physics and astronomy at Texas A&M University, has been selected as a 2015 Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Scully is one of two Texas A&M faculty-researchers recognized among the NAI’s 168 fellow honorees for 2015 announced today (Tuesday, Dec. 15). He joins […]
New Results from LUX: World’s Most Sensitive Dark Matter Detector Gets Better
LEAD, S.D. — The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment, operating nearly a mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in the Black Hills of South Dakota and involving roughly 100 international scientists — including Texas A&M University physicist Robert C. Webb — has already proven itself to be the most sensitive […]
Giant Magellan Telescope to Cast Milestone Fourth Mirror
COLLEGE STATION — As one of 11 international partners in the Giant Magellan Telescope, Texas A&M University is part of important astrophysical history set to go down today (Friday, Sept. 18) beneath a football stadium in Tucson — the casting of the telescope’s fourth primary mirror at the University of Arizona’s Richard F. Caris Mirror […]
Dark Energy Survey Finds Eight New Dwarf Galaxy Candidates
COLLEGE STATION — Using one of the world’s most powerful digital cameras, scientists with the Dark Energy Survey have discovered eight more faint celestial objects hovering near our Milky Way galaxy, along with signs indicating that they — like the objects found by the same team earlier this year — likely are dwarf satellite galaxies, […]
Giant Magellan Telescope’s International Partners Approve Start of Construction Phase
PASADENA, Calif. — The Giant Magellan Telescope Organization has announced today (Wednesday, June 3) that its 11 international partners — including Texas A&M University — have committed more than US$500 million to begin construction of the first of a new generation of extremely large telescopes. Once it is built, the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is […]
Li Honored with Distinguished Graduate Student Award in Research
COLLEGE STATION Fuxiang Li, a former graduate student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University, is one of 14 graduate students across the campus who have been named Texas A&M Distinguished Graduate Students for 2015 in recognition of exemplary achievement in teaching and research. Each year students are nominated by their […]
Dark Energy Survey Creates Detailed Guide to Spotting Dark Matter
BALTIMORE — Dark Energy Survey (DES) scientists, including astronomers at Texas A&M University, are celebrating the release of the first in a series of dark matter maps of the cosmos. The new map, released today (April 13) at the American Physical Society April 2015 Meeting in Baltimore, Md., was created using data captured by the […]
Texas A&M-Led Astronomy Research Details Unprecedented Life Story of Milky Way Galaxy Evolution
COLLEGE STATION — Picture, if you will, the ultimate universal home movie if not parental keepsake and life story: our Milky Way Galaxy, starting out as but a wee collection of young stars some 12 billion years ago, continuously feeding on the gas of smaller nearby galaxies and undergoing a huge burst of star births […]
Texas A&M Astronomers Celebrate First Papers From Dark Energy Survey Data
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M University astronomers are among the hundreds of scientists worldwide celebrating the first fruits from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), a five-year global effort to map the southern sky in unprecedented detail with the ultimate goal of explaining the universe’s accelerating expansion. Earlier today (March 10), the U.S. Department of Energy-funded […]
Texas A&M Reaffirms Support to Help Build Giant Magellan Telescope
COLLEGE STATION — The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents has authorized the execution of an amended and restated Founders’ Agreement and Commitment Agreement with the GMTO Corporation, reaffirming Texas A&M University’s support to assist in building the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and helping to pave the way for construction to begin in Chile […]
Texas A&M Selected to Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M University has been selected for membership in the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. (AURA), the prestigious international organization dedicated to the advancement of astronomy and related sciences. Texas A&M has been admitted for a three-year term through June 30, 2017 as the 40th United States member of […]
Texas A&M Astronomers Making Cosmic Inroads with NSF Grants
COLLEGE STATION — Three Texas A&M University astronomers have their sights set on new astrophysical insights involving the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond, thanks to the help of recent grants from the National Science Foundation. Jennifer Marshall, Casey Papovich and Kim-Vy Tran each led proposals selected for funding as part of the latest round of […]
Suntzeff Shares in $3M Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — Nicholas B. Suntzeff, university distinguished professor of physics and astronomy at Texas A&M University, has been named a co-recipient of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for his role in the 1998 discovery of the accelerated expansion of the universe. The prestigious award, considered the world’s most lucrative academic prize at […]
Texas A&M Grad Student’s aTmCam Offers Cosmic Insight for Dark Energy Survey
COLLEGE STATION — As a child peering through her toy telescope, Texas A&M University graduate student Ting Li was fascinated by the Moon and constellations — not so much by their cosmic beauty, but about why they exist in the first place. “The sky always seemed so beautiful to me,” Li said. “But outer space […]