Facilities

  • New Instrument Extends the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence to New Realms

    March 23, 2015

    From Astronomy Magazine: "Astronomers have expanded the search for extraterrestrial intelligence into a new realm with detectors tuned to infrared light. Their new instrument has just begun to scour the sky for messages from other worlds. “Infrared light would be an excellent means of interstellar communication,” said Shelley Wright from the University of California (UC) in San Diego who led the development of the new instrument while at the University of Toronto’s Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics. Pulses from a powerful infrared laser could outshine a star, if only for a billionth of a second. Interstellar gas and dust…

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  • Campbell Hall Construction Time Lapse

    February 19, 2015

    Courtesy of UC Berkeley Real Estate.

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  • Astronomers, Physicists Celebrate as Campbell Hall Rises Again

    February 19, 2015

    After years of planning and construction, Campbell Hall (home of the Department of Astronomy) held it's official dedication ceremony last week. Donors, architects, and other project contributors were thanked during the event by speakers that included the new dean of physical sciences Frances Hellman, former Executive Dean Mark Richards, and Chancellor Nicholas Dirks.  Campbell Hall is the result of numerous funding efforts and campus collaborations, including the securing of grants, state-funding, and generous gifts from donors who were eager to invest in the new building. As the new occupants of Campbell Hall, the Department of Astronomy is already looking forward…

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  • Google gives Lick Observatory $1 million

    February 13, 2015

    Copied from original article located here. By Robert Sanders - February 10th 2015 Google Inc. has given $1 million to the University of California’s Lick Observatory in what astronomers hope is the first of many private gifts to support an invaluable teaching and research resource for the state. The unrestricted funds, spread over two years, will go toward general expenses, augmenting the $1.5 million the UC Office of the President gives annually to operate the mountaintop observatory for the 10-campus UC system. “Lick Observatory has been making important discoveries while training generations of scientists for more than 100 years,” said Chris…

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