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Dr. Gibor Basri’s 2015 Commencement Address
June 25, 2015
Read Dr. Gibor Basri's address to the graduating class of 2014-2015.
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Department of Astronomy Celebrates 2015 Commencement
June 25, 2015
On May 20th, the Department of Astronomy held a joint commencement ceremony with the Physics Department to recognize our graduates for the 2014-2015 academic year. The Department of Astronomy is proud to announce 28 Undergraduate students received their A.B. degrees, 5 graduate students completed their Master’s, and 5 students received their Ph.D's. The Ceremony itself was held at Zellerbach Hall; Dr. Gibor Basri, Astronomy faculty member and Vice Chancellor of Equity and Inclusion, served as guest speaker (you can read his speech here), and Undergraduate Shengkai Alwin Mao was selected as our Astronomy student speaker. Department chairs Steve Boggs (Physics) and Imke de Pater…
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Campbell-LeConte Bridge Officially Completed
May 15, 2015
After months of waiting, the Campbell-LeConte bridge was finally cleared for use last week, marking the achievement of another major milestone towards the completion of the Campbell Hall building renovation. The bridge, which connects Campbell Hall (home of the Astronomy department) and LeConte Hall (home to the Physics Department), aims to help foster a stronger, collaborative relationship between members of each department by allowing for easier movement between buildings. The moment was celebrated with a short ceremony; Astronomy chair Imke de Pater and Physics chair Steve Boggs, in their respective buildings, gave short speeches and performed ribbon cuttings before participating in a shared ribbon cutting at the center of…
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Berkeley SETI at CalDay
May 7, 2015
On CalDay, The Berkeley SETI team set-up shop in the lobby of Campbell Hall and spent the day greeting CalDay attendees and answering questions about stars, planets, and extraterrestrial life; Below is a video provided by Berkeley SETI that captured part of their day!
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Giant Telescope Takes a Close Look at a Lava Lake on Jupiter’s Moon Io
May 1, 2015
Scientists recently confirmed information regarding Loki Patera, a volcanic depression on Io (the innermost of Jupiter's four moons) that, up until recently, scientists were unable to closely examine. Using the combined Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) and Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), in addition to the LMIRcam, the camera recording images in the LBTI, scientists found evidence that suggests Loki Patera's bright emissions are actually an active overturning lava lake, a finding that points to confirmations of past hypotheses. From the press release provided by Large Binocular Telescope Observatory: "While we have seen bright emissions – always one unresolved spot – “pop-up” at different locations in Loki Patera over the…
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Automated Planet Finder Discovers Three New Planets
April 29, 2015
The Automated Planet Finder (APF), a robotic telescope located at Lick Observatory, has discovered three new planets around a near-by star. These planets, or Super-Earths, have a mass seven to eight times that of Earth; while most planets discovered outside of our solar system have been the size of Neptune or larger, the APF purposefully targets smaller planets around nearby stars in efforts to find habitable planets. The APF's unique automated function enables the telescope to take on graveyard shifts to provide assistance in the search of exo-planets; this unique design is slated to assist with a complete survey of nearby…
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Department Celebrates First CalDay in Campbell Hall!
April 23, 2015
The Department of Astronomy participated in CalDay, the annual event where campus opens its doors to anyone looking to learn more about Berkeley and explore everything the campus has to offer. CalDay attendees came to participate in a number of hands-on events and activities hosted by the department that included building scale models of the solar system, learning how to read the "fingerprints" of stars, solar viewings, and how Astronomers go about measuring distances of stars. Our portable planetarium was up and running inside Campbell Hall, providing the opportunity for a guided tour of the constellations visible during springtime. SETI and the Space Exploration Society…
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UC Berkeley Astronomers Lead New NASA-Funded Search for Habitable Planets
April 22, 2015
Department of Astronomy faculty member James Graham will lead one of the 16 new projects funded by NASA in efforts to streamline the search for habitable planets. The project is part of the newly announced NExSS (Nexus for Exoplanet System Science) which seeks to bring together "the best and the brightest" to oversee the search. The Berkeley "exoplanets unveiled" project, which will work alongside scientists at Stanford, is unique due to it's involvement of the "Gemini Planet Imager, a new instrument for the Gemini Observatory that began its exoplanet survey in November 2014; GPI has already imaged two previously known exo-planets and disks…
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Berkeley Participates in Yuri’s Night Celebration at CalAcademy
April 16, 2015
Every year in April a world-wide celebration is held to honor Yuri Gagarin, the first human being to venture into space. This year, members from the UC Berkeley Department of Astronomy took part in honoring this historical achievement with a Yuri's Night celebration at the California Academy of Sciences. Graduate students Erik Petigura and Jason Wang managed telescope viewings on the Academy's living roof, while graduate student Lauren Weiss helped manage the Friends of Lick Observatory table in the African Hall. The table was set up with a live feed and prerecorded footage to the APF (the Automated Planet Finder) and included the Superplanet…
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CalDay 2015!
March 23, 2015
CalDay 2015 is almost here! On April 18th the campus opens up to the public for hands-on activities, lectures, presentations, tours, food, and other opportunities to engage with the campus community. The Astronomy department is hosting a number of events; see below for a complete listing so you can plan out your day! Are We Alone?: SETI@home & the Search for ET Hear about Berkeley's SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program at the world's largest telescopes. Volunteers have a small-but-captivating chance that their computer will detect the first signal from a civilization beyond earth. 11:00-12:00, 3 Leconte - Dan Werthimer “Pluto, Ceres, and Below: What…
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