Eberly College of Science

Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics

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three panels of hypothetical planetary system

Combination of cosmic processes shapes the size and location of sub-Neptunes

March 17, 2025

Image of Kevin Luhman holding a U.S. stamp with his image from the James Webb Space Telescope

Q&A: The story behind the cosmic image on a new US stamp

March 11, 2025

illustration of a space craft approaching Earth

Could an Earth-like alien civilization detect us?

February 05, 2025

A play button overlaid on a Research at Penn State graphic showing a scene from the movie "Moana 2," an image of Penn State faculty member Christopher Palma with a raised hand, and the text "Is the way finding showing in 'Moana' realistic?"

WATCH: Astronomer gives wayfaring in ‘Moana’ 5 stars

January 15, 2025

Allen Telescope Array at night

Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center awarded NASA grant

December 19, 2024

illustration of star with three planets

New planet in Kepler-51 system discovered using James Webb Space Telescope

December 03, 2024

Astrophysicist David Radice named Penn State Knerr Early Career Professor

November 18, 2024

Sipe, Radice, and Maulik

Three Penn State researchers awarded scientific grants from Kaufman Foundation

November 13, 2024

NASA grant to support free tool to improve astrophysical simulations

October 31, 2024

Penn State Scranton professor receives NSF grant to study white dwarf stars

October 30, 2024

Infrared image of the center of the Orion Nebula with insets showing proplyds

NASA telescopes discover brown dwarf protoplanetary disks in the Orion Nebula

October 28, 2024

Illustration of star with two orbiting planets communicating with radio waves

Are nearby planets sending radio signals to each other?

October 17, 2024

Artist's concept of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory

Rare, ultra-luminous nova spotted in the Small Magellanic Cloud

October 17, 2024

This is an illustration of two merging neutron stars.

ICDS co-hire contributes to gravitational wave research

October 09, 2024

Portrait of a person outside.

Statistics, astronomy and astrophysics professor retires after 39 years

September 10, 2024

PA Space Grant Consortium

NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant announces fellowship, scholarship winners for 2024

September 03, 2024

Artistic rendering of a large planet next to a bright star

Exoplanet caught in ‘hairpin turn’ signals how high-mass gas giants form

July 17, 2024

New faculty endowment in astronomy and astrophysics created by Keiko Miwa Ross

July 08, 2024

Volume rendering of simulation of two neutron stars merging.

What happens when neutron stars collide?

June 18, 2024

Using machine learning, modeling to detect Earth-like planets

June 12, 2024

Illustration of supermassive black hole with quasar wind, with inset spectra.

Astronomers find unexpected accelerating quasar winds around distant black hole

June 11, 2024

Combined X-ray and optical observations on left and simulated gas column density on right, with inset of artist's impression of active supermassive black hole

How do supermassive black holes get super massive?

June 11, 2024

Jake McCoy and Fabien Grisé

$4M NASA grants to support UV and X-ray astronomy

May 20, 2024

Head of Nittany Lion Shrine

Forty-three undergraduates receive Erickson Discovery Grants

May 14, 2024

President Joe Biden presents Jane Rigby with presidential medal

Q&A with Penn State alumna and NASA astrophysicist Jane Rigby

May 09, 2024

Scanning electron microscope image of a ‘strained’ photonic crystal

Making light ‘feel’ a magnetic field like an electron would

April 23, 2024

illustration of gamma ray burst

Brightest gamma-ray burst of all time aids search for origin of heavy elements

April 12, 2024

People wearing eclipse glasses pointing to sky

Photo gallery: Penn State campuses observe, celebrate rare solar eclipse

April 08, 2024

Centre County Report eclipse coverage

Students set to produce live newscast with coverage of solar eclipse April 8

April 02, 2024

Radio data and X-rays from the quasar H1821+643

NASA’s Chandra identifies a black hole with a bark worse than its bite

March 21, 2024

View of IceCube Neutrino Observatory at twilight

IceCube identifies seven astrophysical tau neutrino candidates

March 12, 2024

A map-like depiction of stars and galaxies

'Cosmic lighthouses' that cleared primordial fog identified with JWST

February 28, 2024

Penn State astronomer awarded New Initiative Grant from Kaufman Foundation

February 27, 2024

image of galaxy with long tail-like tendril spiraling of the edge

Hubble traces ‘string of pearls’ star clusters in galaxy collisions

February 08, 2024

SolarFest, Monday, April 8, 2024, Medlar Field at Lubrano Park

SolarFest offers April 8 eclipse viewing, science activities

January 16, 2024

Stylized "30" with text reading Ashtekar Frontiers of Science

30th anniversary Ashtekar Frontiers of Science Lectures to begin Jan. 27

January 10, 2024

NASA Webb Telescope image of central portion of the star cluster IC 348 showing three tiny brown dwarfs

NASA’s Webb telescope identifies tiniest free-floating brown dwarf

December 13, 2023

Artistic rendering of the possible view from LHS 3154b towards its low mass host star

Discovery of planet too big for its sun throws off solar system formation models

November 30, 2023

illustration of nebula with glare from a star

Earth-like planets could form even in the harshest environments, study reports

November 30, 2023

Wolszsczn stands in front of huge radio telescope

Penn State Astronomer Alexander Wolszczan named Atherton Professor

November 14, 2023

composite image of pandora's cluster, with two close-up inset images

Second-most distant galaxy discovered using James Webb Space Telescope

November 13, 2023

Artist's concept of Kepler-385 planetary system

Many planets beyond our solar system follow nearly circular orbital paths

November 03, 2023

Suvrath Mahadevan kneeling on boardwalk near water

Mahadevan named Verne M. Willaman Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics

October 04, 2023

Marker Lectures in Astronomy and Astrophysics scheduled for Sept. 19, 20 and 21

September 12, 2023

Nick Siegler speaksing at the second annual Penn State SETI Symposium

Heard on Campus: NASA’s Nick Siegler at the Penn State SETI symposium

July 12, 2023

Observatory on the roof of Davey Lab

AstroFest 2023 offers four evenings of astronomy activities and stargazing

July 05, 2023

NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant announces its 2023 fellowship, scholarship winners

June 29, 2023

OLLI at Penn State

From the cosmos to the community, explore with OLLI this summer

June 13, 2023

Five named Big Ten Academic Alliance Department Executive Officer Fellows

June 01, 2023

artist illustration of blazar

Testing a theory of supermassive black holes with 100 newly described 'blazars'

May 10, 2023

science alumni stand with dean Tracy Langkilde

Eberly College of Science honors three with Outstanding Science Alumni Award

April 10, 2023

Williams smiles and crosses arms in front of rooftop observatory

Spotting the brightest gamma-ray burst ever recorded

March 28, 2023

rings of red particles radiate outward from a bright yellow center

Brightest gamma-ray burst ever recorded may be 1-in-10,000-year event

March 28, 2023

The Pan-STARRS telescopes on Haleakalā in Hawaii

Thousands of new cosmic explosions discovered by Young Supernova Experiment

March 15, 2023

Portraits of Abhay Ashtekar and George Andrews

Two from Eberly College of Science named among first Atherton Professors

February 23, 2023

images of distant starlight taken by the James Webb Telescope

Discovery of massive early galaxies defies prior understanding of the universe

February 22, 2023

Brandt named Holder of the Eberly Family Chair in Astronomy and Astrophysics

February 21, 2023

Eric Ford named distinguished professor of astronomy and astrophysics

February 17, 2023

Radovic looks through eyepiece of telescope

Two undergraduates to speak at ENVISION: STEM Career Day Supporting Young Women

February 16, 2023

Composite image of Pandora's Cluster with stars and galaxies

NASA’s James Webb Telescope uncovers new details in Pandora’s Cluster

February 15, 2023

Katie Mack in business suit

Astrophysicist Katie Mack presents 'Physics at the End of the Universe' Jan. 23

January 18, 2023

Junyu Zhang in front of Old Main steps

Junyu Zhang selected as Eberly College of Science’s Fall 2022 student marshal

December 14, 2022

A graphic of the explosion caused by the collision of two stars

Rare cosmic explosion blasts hole in established science

December 07, 2022

outline of telescope with many galaxies in its field of view

Tracing the origins of rare, cosmic explosions

November 21, 2022

A sky full of starlight

Bright light from early universe 'opens new chapter in astronomy'

November 17, 2022

Hubble image of the spiral galaxy NGC 1068.

IceCube neutrinos give first glimpse into the inner depths of an active galaxy

November 08, 2022

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