About: Shari


Recent Posts by Shari

May 30

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Finds Most Distant Known Galaxy

Over the last two years, scientists have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (also called Webb or JWST) to explore what astronomers refer to as Cosmic Dawn – the period in the first few hundred million years after the big bang where the first galaxies were born. These galaxies provide vital insight into the ways in which the gas, stars, and black holes were changing when the universe was very young. In October 2023 and January 2024, an international team of astronomers used Webb to observe galaxies as part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) program. Using Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph), they obtained a spectrum of a record-breaking galaxy observed only two hundred and ninety million years after the big bang.

May 13

AURA Annual Meeting 2024

On a bright April morning in Tucson, Arizona, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy’s (AURA) Annual Meeting kicked off. Held annually, the meeting brings together representatives from AURA’s 52 member institutions to interact with AURA leadership, Center Directors, and staff. The Member Representatives hear updates from each Center and AURA Corporate, vote on slates for governance positions, and discuss current issues in astronomy. 

May 6

Dark Energy Camera Spies Cometary Globule Reaching for the Stars

The dark, dusty cometary globule known as CG 4 is spotlighted in this image from the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. How these hard-to-detect clouds get their distinctive structure is still unclear, but astronomers speculate that it’s a consequence of the hot, massive stars that surround them.

May 6

Christoph Keller

Director, NSF National Solar Observatory Prior to his appointment as NSO Director, Dr. Keller was Director of Science at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. He started at NSO as a postdoc and then was hired as an Associate Astronomer. During his tenure, Keller led efforts at the McMath-Pierce solar telescope; designed, developed, built, and commissioned SOLIS […]

Apr 30

Victor Krabbendam

Project Manager for Rubin Construction Victor Krabbendam has been Project Manager for Rubin Construction since 2012, after eight years as Project Manager for the Rubin Observatory Telescope & Site subsystem. Trained as a mechanical engineer, Victor has worked in industry, government, and with major astronomical research facilities including the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory and […]

Apr 29

Gemini South Reveals Origin of Unexpected Differences in Giant Binary Stars

Using the Gemini South telescope a team of astronomers have confirmed for the first time that differences in binary stars’ composition can originate from chemical variations in the cloud of stellar material from which they formed. The results help explain why stars born from the same molecular cloud can possess different chemical composition and host different planetary systems, as well as pose challenges to current stellar and planet formation models.

Apr 29

Webb Captures Top of Iconic Horsehead Nebula in Unprecedented Detail

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared images to date of a zoomed-in portion of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. These observations show the top of the “horse’s mane” or edge of this iconic nebula in a whole new light, capturing the region’s complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution.

Apr 24

Stuartt Corder

Deputy Director, NSF NOIRLab and AURA Mission Scientist in Chile  Stuartt Corder has a strong history of leadership in astronomy with more than 15 years of experience in building, operating, and further developing groundbreaking, large-scale, advanced scientific and technical programs and facilities. Since receiving his PhD from Caltech, he has been in Chile, holding a number […]

Apr 24

Sandrine J. Thomas 

Deputy Director and Telescope and Site Scientist, Rubin Observatory Construction Dr. Sandrine J. Thomas focuses on optimizing Rubin Observatory’s image quality and on a smooth transition to operation among other topics. Dr Thomas’ main expertise is in physical optics, active/adaptive optics and coronagraphy as well as fostering a healthy workplace culture. In addition to Rubin, […]

Apr 18

NOIRLab’s Lori Allen Elected 2023 AAAS Fellow

Lori Allen, Mid-Scale Observatories (MSO) Director at NSF NOIRLab, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. MSO encompasses both Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile and Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.

Apr 12

Charting the Quantum Horizons of Astronomy

On March 11, 2024, researchers gathered in Tucson, Arizona for a workshop to discuss something new for astronomy: quantum-enabled optical interferometry. Being explored as the possible next step after building giant telescopes, this new capability could make it possible to combine the light from very widely separated telescopes so that they would function as one large collecting area. While radio telescopes like the VLA have exploited interferometry for decades, the challenges at optical wavelengths have been daunting.


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