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Astronomy

Euclid Space Telescope launches exciting new possibilities
Shot of Falcon 9 Rocket launching from Cape Canaveral at Kennedy Space Center

The European Space Agency’s latest astrophysics mission, Euclid, lifted off on a Space X Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, at 17:12 CEST on 1 July 2023. Euclid has now started its month-long journey to Sun-Earth Lagrange point L2, located 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, in the opposite direction from the Sun.

(Image: iStock / Robert Michaud)

Euclid Space Telescope launches exciting new possibilities

Professors of physics and astronomy Bhuvnesh Jain, Mark Trodden, and Gary Bernstein discuss the coming research findings from the European Space Agency’s Euclid Space Telescope.
A grant to upgrade Simons Observatory
researching working in simons observatory

The Devlin lab are working on creating an extremely cold environment (nearly -460 degrees Fahrenheit) so that the new Simons Observatory can detect cosmic microwave background (CMB), the residual radiation left behind by the Big Bang. Work done at the High Bay is essential for keeping the project from falling further behind after shutdown delays.

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A grant to upgrade Simons Observatory

Mark Devlin and colleagues have been awarded an NSF grant to upgrade the prominent observatory in the high Atacama Desert in Northern Chile.
New findings reveal the most detailed mass map of dark matter
the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in the foreground and the desert and mountains of chile in the background

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile is just one site Penn faculty are conducting ongoing global research.

(Image: Debra Kellner)

New findings reveal the most detailed mass map of dark matter

Research led by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration maps the universe’s cosmic growth supporting Einstein's theory of general relativity.
New neutrino detection method
Aview inside the SNO detector when filled with water.

A view inside the SNO detector when filled with water. In the background, there are 9,000 photomultiplier tubes that detect photons and the acrylic vessel that (now) holds liquid scintillator. The ropes that crisscross on the outside hold it down when the scintillator is added to prevent it from floating upwards. The acrylic vessel is 12 m wide, about half the width of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The detector is located in SNOLAB, a research facility located 2km underground near Sudbury, Canada.

(Image: SNO+ Collaboration)

New neutrino detection method

Research by Joshua Klein of the School of Arts & Science and an international team has found a way to detect distant subatomic particles using water.
New analysis shows how sulfur clouds can form in Venus’ atmosphere
The planet Venus shown against a black background

New analysis shows how sulfur clouds can form in Venus’ atmosphere

An international research team, including atmospheric chemists from the School of Arts & Sciences, used computational chemistry methods to identify a novel pathway for how sulfur particles can arise high in the atmosphere of the second planet from the sun.

Katherine Unger Baillie

A ‘vibrant nexus’ for research and discovery in the physical sciences
the exterior of the david rittenhouse laboratory

As part of a $750M investment in science, engineering, and medicine, Penn has committed to constructing a new Physical Sciences Building and updating the David Rittenhouse Laboratory.

A ‘vibrant nexus’ for research and discovery in the physical sciences

With the construction of a new Physical Sciences Building and updates to the David Rittenhouse Laboratory, Penn will create a modernized physical sciences quadrant that integrates state-of-the-art research in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and engineering.

Erica K. Brockmeier