Excellence in Space Sciences
From Earth to the edge of the universe, UC Santa Cruz makes giant impacts in astronomy, astrophysics, and planetary science. We are pioneering new technologies for giant telescopes, adaptive optics, and gamma-ray astrophysics; discovering planets beyond our solar system and the most distant galaxies in the universe; and reshaping paradigms in cosmology, astrophysics, and particle physics. From NASA missions to the UC Observatories, we help people see what has never been seen before.
Latest news
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UCSC’s Osterbrock Leadership Program goes national
The National Osterbrock Leadership Program provides experiences and opportunities for astronomy graduate students to develop leadership and management skills.
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Friends of Lick Observatory helps fund wildfire recovery efforts
The group has designated $75,000 for the emergency support of wildfire relief efforts at Lick Observatory, where telescopes were saved but infrastructure was damaged.
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Steven Ritz stepping down after 10 years as director of particle physics institute
Jason Nielsen, professor of physics, will take over as director of the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP) in the new year.
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UC Santa Cruz leads interdisciplinary consortium for astrobiology research
With funding from NASA, the UCSC-led team will lay the foundation for detecting the signatures of life in the atmospheres of other planets.
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Radioactive elements may be crucial to the habitability of rocky planets
Earth-size planets can have varying amounts of radioactive elements, which generate internal heat that drives a planet’s geological activity and magnetism.
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Anemic star cluster breaks metal-poor record
In a surprising discovery, astronomers have found a globular star cluster in the Andromeda galaxy that contains a record-breaking low amount of metals.
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Astrophysicist Jonathan Fortney awarded 2020 Farinella Prize
Jonathan Fortney has been awarded the 2020 Paolo Farinella Prize from the Europlanet Society for his contributions to the understanding of the structure, evolution, and atmospheric dynamics of giant planets.
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Powerful new supercomputer supports campus research in physical sciences
UCSC faculty are using the new system for research in astrophysics, climate science, materials science, chemistry, and other fields.
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Iron volcanoes may have erupted on metal asteroids
NASA's upcoming mission to the asteroid Psyche could look for signs of past eruptions, and evidence of 'ferrovolcanism' may also turn up in iron meteorites.
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Postdoctoral fellowship supports planetary science research
The 51 Pegasi b Fellowship will fund Xinting Yu's research at UC Santa Cruz on formation of clouds and hazes on exoplanets.