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In a massive region of space, astronomers find far fewer galaxies than they expected
“It was a rare case in astronomy where two competing models ... offered precisely opposite predictions,” said UCLA professor Steven Furlanetto.
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Study co-authored by UCLA scientists shows evidence of water vapor plumes on one of Jupiter’s moons
Scientists have long been interested in Europa because evidence suggests that a vast ocean lies beneath its icy outer shell.
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‘Winking’ star 550 light-years away may be devouring wrecked planets
“I’ve been studying young stars near Earth for 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like this one,” said UCLA astronomer Benjamin Zuckerman.
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Intense storms batter Saturn’s largest moon, UCLA scientists report
Titan’s liquid methane rain appears to play a major role in shaping its icy surface, and the downpours are much more common than researchers expected.
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Team led by UCLA astrophysicist observes primitive comet 1.5 billion miles from the sun
The astronomers identified a “special comet” called K2 traveling from beyond Saturn’s orbit — the farthest active inbound comet ever seen.
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37 questions with black holes expert Andrea Ghez
Andrea Ghez is an astronomy professor and pre-eminent scholar on the role of black holes in the evolution of galaxies.
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UCLA physicists propose new theories of black holes from the very early universe
The new hypothesis doesn’t rely on the “unlikely coincidences” that underpin other theories explaining primordial black holes.
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Crowds take in the solar eclipse at UCLA
More than 1,000 people filled the Court of Sciences on Monday to view the partial eclipse of the sun.
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Astronomers find that the sun’s core rotates four times faster than its surface
Scientists had assumed the core was rotating at about the same speed as the surface, but this surprising observation might reveal what the sun was like when it formed.
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Astronomers observe a dying red giant star’s final act
An international team of astronomers has observed a striking spiral pattern in the gas surrounding a red giant star called LL Pegasi and its companion star 3,400 light-years from Earth.
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Gigantic Jupiter-type planet reveals insights into how planets evolve
A “baby” solar system 300 light-years away has given astrophysicists from UCLA and the Carnegie Institution for Science a rare peek at the formation of a planet.
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Dwarf star 200 light-years away contains life’s building blocks
A UCLA-led team of scientists discovered a white dwarf star in the constellation Boötes whose atmosphere is rich in carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen.
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Experiment resolves mystery about wind flows on Jupiter
UCLA’s Jonathan Aurnou and collaborators in Marseille, France, demonstrated that the planet’s jets likely extend thousands of miles below its visible atmosphere.
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The moon is older than scientists thought, UCLA-led research team reports
A UCLA-led research team reports that the moon is at least 4.51 billion years old and probably formed only about 60 million years after the birth of the solar system — 40 million to 140 million years earlier than had been thought.
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The truth about Galileo and his conflict with the Catholic Church
UCLA professor Henry Kelly examines historical canonical legal procedures to correct the popular myths around the Italian astronomer’s belief in a sun-centered solar system.
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UCLA astronomers watch star clusters spewing out dust
The new observations confirm a long-standing theory that stars are copious producers of heavy elements.
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UCLA will participate in NSF-funded science and technology imaging center
The cutting-edge project that includes renowned scientists will tackle major challenges in the physical sciences, life sciences and engineering.
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Astronomers capture best view ever of disintegrating comet
The team, led by a UCLA researcher, used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to gather data on Comet 332P as it broke apart 67 million miles from Earth.
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A planet 1,200 light-years away is a good prospect for a habitable world
Kepler-62f could have atmospheric compositions that allow it to be warm enough to have surface liquid water, which would make it possible for the planet to support life.
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Astronomers confirm faintest early-universe galaxy ever seen
The researchers made the discovery using an effect called gravitational lensing to see the incredibly faint object, which was born just after the Big Bang.
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See Mercury from UCLA on May 9. Your next chance will be November 2019
Viewers will have the rare opportunity to watch Mercury glide slowly across the sun.
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In memoriam: UCLA astronomy professor Michael Jura
Jura played a major role in advancing scholarship in his field and in shaping UCLA’s Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics over the course of four decades.
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Moon was produced by a head-on collision between Earth and a forming planet
The violent impact with a “planetary embryo” called Theia occurred approximately 100 million years after the Earth formed, UCLA geochemists and colleagues report.
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UCLA professor proposes simpler way to define what makes a planet
Jean-Luc Margot described a straightforward method that can be used to distinguish planets from other bodies like dwarf planets and minor planets.
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Jupiter-like planet discovered outside our solar system
A planet 100 light-years away that resembles a young Jupiter has been discovered by an international team of astronomers that includes six UCLA scientists.
- Tuesday, August 21, 2018