Physics & Astronomy

In 2016, the 60-year-old Physics & Astronomy building on The University of New Mexico campus was a mess. The site and building were unsuitable for high-end research. The building lacked state-of-the-art teaching facilities and heating and cooling issues...

Victor Acosta, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at The University of New Mexico, was named a 2024 Experimental Physics Investigator by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and will receive a five-year $1.25 million...

Quantum researchers at The University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to research the development of a photonic quantum computer that can operate at room temperature in a...

University of New Mexico Department of Physics and Astronomy Graduate student Josef Sorenson was selected recently to receive the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) award to pursue his Ph.D. next year at...

Tara Drake, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at The University of New Mexico, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award. The award is NSF’s most prestigious award in recognition and support of...

Just 41 light years from Earth is an exoplanet so incredibly hot scientists didn’t think it could maintain an atmosphere, but a recent study published in Nature by a national team of scientists suggests 55 Cancri e may be the first rocky exoplanet...

On Monday, April 8, astronomy buffs will have a chance to view another spectacular eclipse. This time, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. In Albuquerque, viewers will be able to see 78...

CSOs are active galaxies that host supermassive black holes at their cores. Out of these monstrous black holes spring two jets traveling in opposite directions at nearly the speed of light. But in comparison to other galaxies that boast fierce jets, these jets do not extend out to great distances—they are much more compact. For many decades, astronomers suspected that CSOs were simply young and that their jets would eventually travel out to greater distances

The University of New Mexico’s Optical Science and Engineering program recently celebrated 40 years of graduate education in optics with two days of lectures, lab tours, student poster presentations and more. The OSE Program is jointly administered by...

John Mather, Nobel Prize winner for his groundbreaking observational work on the Big Bang, recently visited The University of New Mexico to share insights on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and its early results.  The idea for a new telescope...