Physical Sciences

Kin Fai Mak to receive Department of Energy Early Career Research Program funding
Kin Fai Mak
Charlton honored with President's Award for Excellence in Academic Integration
Jane Charlton
Black hole, quiet since 1989, now caught burping a rare X-ray flare
On June 15, NASA's Swift caught the onset of a rare X-ray outburst from a stellar-mass black hole in the binary system V404 Cygni. Astronomers around the world are watching the event. In this system, a stream of gas from a star much like the sun flows toward a 10 solar mass black hole. Instead of spiraling toward the black hole, the gas accumulates for decades in an accretion disk around it. Every couple of decades, the disk switches into a state that sends the gas rushing inward, starting a new outburst.
Lord of the Rings: Astronomers Pinpoint the Location of a Mysterious Neutron Star with Superlative Rings of X-ray Light
Chandra data of the Circinus X-1 star system reveal a set of four rings that appear as circles around the system's neutron star, providing a rare opportunity to determine the distance to an object on the other side of the Milky Way galaxy. CREDIT: X-ray: NASA/CXC/U. Wisconsin/S. Heinz et al.; Optical: DSS.
Song Tan awarded Faculty Scholar Medal for Outstanding Achievement
Song Tan
John Badding awarded Faculty Scholar Medal for Outstanding Achievement
John Badding
A First: Exoplanet smaller than Earth gets its size and mass measured
The planetary system harboring Kepler-138b, the first exoplanet smaller than Earth with both it mass and size measured. In this artist's conception, the sizes of the planets relative to the star have been exaggerated. Credit: Danielle Futselaar, SETI Institute
Mercedes Richards elected Councilor of American Astronomical Society
Mercedes Richards
MINERVA Telescope Array Dedicated in Ceremony on Mount Hopkins
A view of the MINERVA telescope array and MINERVA-Red on Mount Hopkins.
Booker named an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Squire Booker
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