The Department of Astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin

Joined February 2014
145 Photos and videos
Exciting new clues about the nature of Little Red Dots from a team of astronomers led by UT Austin astronomer Vasily Kokorev!
Webb has delivered the strongest evidence yet that its discovery of mysterious Little Red Dots (LRD) are “black hole stars.” They appear starting ~600 million years after the big bang, and scientists are still working out exactly what they are. science.nasa.gov/missions/we…
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Texas Astronomy retweeted
A conjunction between the two brightest points of light in the night sky, the planets Venus and Jupiter, plays out in the west the next couple of evenings. They are separated by less than two degrees, which is the width of your finger held at arm’s length.
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Using cutting-edge simulations, Dr. Jenna Samuel, Prof Michael Boylan-Kolchin & Asst. Prof Julian Munoz investigated a puzzle shown by the JWST: why do the earliest galaxies appear brighter, more massive, & clumpier than expected? cosmicai.org/news/researchca… youtube.com/watch?v=h5dIGfot…
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The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Survey (HETDEX) first public data release is now available! mcdonaldobservatory.org/news…
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Congrats to all the Dean's Honored Graduates, including two Astronomy grads this year! 🎉
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Texas Astronomy retweeted
🎉 Happy Graduation Weekend, Longhorns! 🤘 Congratulations @TexasScience & @UTAstronomy graduates on an incredible '25 – '26 academic year! 🎓 Graduation Schedule: ow.ly/l7pA50YTBGe
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Check out the great @nytimes overview of UT Astronomy's work to understand Dark Energy from some of the darkest skies in the US! 🔭
“‘Dark energy’ is the phrase we use to represent our ignorance of how the universe is expanding, but it may not be dark. It may not be energy.” - @UTAustin's Dr. Karl Gebhardt, discussing the work of the HETDEX team, in a @nytimes article - out today! ow.ly/JIf850YO73g
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Congrats to all the winners of the 2026 Visualizing Science Contest, including UT Astronomy grad student Joohyun Lee and Professor Paul Shapiro! See all of the winning images here: cns.utexas.edu/news/features…
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A night at the telescope 🔭 A group of astronomy students from @TexasScience were invited to “test drive” the 107-inch Harlan J. Smith telescope at the McDonald Observatory (@mcdonaldobs) and investigated if a distant globular cluster contains a black hole. Read more here: utex.as/4bySg2U
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So excited to be joining #AstronomyOnTap ATX for their 97th show, along with my friend and producer of @longest_goodbye, Ido Mizrahy! It’ll be a night full of #astronomy talks, news, merch & more! March 16 Celis Brewery 7:00 PM @AoTATX is FREE and open to all ages! @UTAstronomy
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Texas Astronomy retweeted
📣 BIG NEWS!! Following a competitive international search, the @mcdonaldobs is beyond thrilled to announce that Dan Jaffe has been appointed the new @giantmagellan Telescope President! #WhatStartsHere changes the world. ow.ly/x0II50XWmY6
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Texas Astronomy retweeted
Please join us in welcoming Daniel T. Jaffe as President of the Giant Magellan Telescope. Daniel brings world-leading expertise in both astronomical instrumentation development and the construction of large-scale research facilities. He is well positioned to lead the Giant Magellan Telescope through its next phase of growth. giantmagellan.org/2026/01/13…
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Registration is open! AI Boot Camp For Astronomers Presented by the NSF-Simons AI Institute for Cosmic Origins and the Texas Advanced Computing Center @TACC June 1st-5th 2026 Location: Pickle Research Campus, @UTAustin Learn more cosmicai.org/astroai-boot-ca…
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Texas Astronomy retweeted
🎙️ THIS FRIDAY - TUNE IN! 📻 ⭐ @TexasStandard, the national daily news show of Texas, is roadtrippin' across the Lone Star State, visiting @mcdonaldobs along the way! Check for your local station & tune in FRIDAY to hear what we're up to! 🔗 ow.ly/Ke4S50XBzar #publicradio
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Texas Astronomy retweeted
📣 The Board of Directors for the @giantmagellan Telescope has elected @mcdonaldobs Director Taft Armandroff as its new chair! Learn about this exciting leadership transition: ow.ly/UZ4S50XmBlL [Taft Armandroff (left), Walter Massey (center) and Brian Schmidt (right)]
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Texas Astronomy retweeted
The University of Texas at Austin: Tiny Galaxy, Big Find: Black Hole Discovered in Nearby Segue 1 mcdonaldobservatory.org/news…

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We're hiring! Just posted - Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Position in Astronomy aas.org/jobregister/ad/b5455…

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