UC Irvine Center for Cosmology

Archives for August 2017

Department & Center Host Great American Eclipse Viewing Party for Over 1000

by

The Department of Physics & Astronomy and the Center for Cosmology hosted a Great American Eclipse viewing party on August 21, 2017, for the eclipse that traveled coast-to-coast across America. The event was estimated to draw 1,100 visitors from across Irvine and Orange County, and was the largest public event hosted by the Department of Physics & Astronomy and School of Physical Sciences since a celebration of the 1995 Nobel Prizes to Frederick Reines and Sherwood Rowland. Credit goes to the graduate students that led the organization of the event: Katy Rodriguez Wimberly and Arianna Brown.

The event was covered by the OC Register, KTLA Channel 5, NBC News, and is on Storify.

Cosmology Center PhD Leads Discovery of 100 Million Black Holes in Our Galaxy

by

UC Irvine astronomers make a hundred million discoveries — black holes

Recent UCI Physics & Astronomy Ph.D. recipient Dr. Oliver Elbert had his work, available on the arXiv, with Prof. James Bullock and Prof. Manoj Kaplinghat covered in Forbes, Phys.Org, The Universe Today, and the OC Register:

“Astronomers from UC Irvine have concluded that as many as 100 million black holes exist in our galaxy – a tally far more than previously believed and shocking even to the three researchers… The trio’s discovery grows out of the 2015 detection of evidence showing that two black holes, each the size of 30 suns, collided to form a single one some 1.3 billion years ago. In response to that groundbreaking news — which confirmed a key part of Einstein’s theory of relativity —  the three UCI astronomers launched their study to determine how many black holes there are in the Milky Way.”

Evans Visiting Scholar in Astrophysics Program Announced

by

We solicit applications for the Evans Visiting Scholar in Astrophysics which will be awarded by the Physics & Astronomy Department at UC Irvine to an outstanding postdoctoral researcher working in the field of astrophysics.
The winner will be invited to visit UC Irvine for up to one month in the time period between January to June 2018, to give the Evans Prize Research Seminar, and to deliver a public lecture in Irvine.  In addition to covering travel and local expenses, the Price Prize provides the winner with a $2,000 honorarium.
The Evans Scholar in Astrophysics will be selected based on three criteria: 1) research excellence, 2) overlap with astrophysics at UC Irvine, and 3) demonstrated ability in science communication.
Applications should include
  1. a 1 page description of: past research, future research goals, including potential overlap with faculty at UC Irvine, and how an outreach public talk would communicate those results
  2. a CV with bibliography

Applications are due by November 1, and applicants should apply via the form at this link.

Astrophysics research at UC Irvine includes cosmology, exo-planet science, galaxy formation, and high-energy astrophysics. More about astrophysics at UC Irvine can be found at this link.