LPL Spotlight Stories

Image of Daniella DellaGiustina named on of the "Brilliant 10" by Popular Science magazine.

Daniella DellaGiustina Named One of the "Brilliant 10" by Popular Science

Assistant Professor Daniella DellaGiustina is named one of the "Brilliant 10 2022" by Popular Science Magazine.

 Image of a meteor as it fell to Earth over Chelyabinsk, Russia.

Scientists Identify Potential Source of 'Shock-darkened' Meteorites, with Implications for Hazardous Asteroid Deflection

University of Arizona planetary scientists identified a potential source of a special kind of meteorite. Its characteristics could explain certain discrepancies in how near-Earth asteroids are classified.
Photo of Award Announcement - Kristopher Klein awarded 2022 Lev D. Landau and Lyman Spitzer Jr. Award

Kristopher Klein Receives 2022 Landau and Lyman Spitzer Jr. Award

Assistant Professor Kristopher Klein receives 2022 Lev D. Landau and Lyman Spitzer Jr. Award for Outstanding Contributions to Plasma Physics.

 Fishers in the Mekong River.

Science Diplomacy Students Present Climate Strategy to State Department

Students from various academic backgrounds applied their classwork to take real action against climate change.
An artist's representation of NASA's DART spacecraft flying toward the twin asteroids, Didymos and Dimorphos. The larger asteroid, Didymos, was discovered by UArizona Spacewatch in 1996. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

UArizona Spacewatch Discovered the Larger of the Twin Asteroids Targeted in NASA's Upcoming DART Mission Encounter

In 1996, the University of Arizona Spacewatch program discovered Didymos, the larger of the two asteroids that are the focus of NASA's upcoming DART mission encounter.

 This illustration shows what exoplanet WASP-39 b, a hot, puffy gas giant 700 light-years from Earth, could look like, based on current understanding of the planet. NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

With Webb Space Telescope, UArizona Astronomers Help Detect Carbon Dioxide in Exoplanet Atmosphere

After years of preparation and anticipation, exoplanet researchers are ecstatic about the first official scientific observation of an exoplanet by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
A new study reporting the discovery of an asteroid impact crater buried under the seafloor off the coast of Africa lends support to the idea that more than one asteroid may have impacted Earth at the time the dinosaurs went extinct.

More Than One Asteroid Could Have Spelled Doom for the Dinosaur

A newly discovered impact crater below the seafloor hints at the possibility that more than one asteroid hit Earth during the time when dinosaurs went extinct.

 Grace Halferty, a senior graduating this summer with a bachelor's degree in aerospace and mechanical engineering and the paper's lead author, with the instrument researchers built to measure the brightness and position of SpaceX Starlink satellites.

As Reflective Satellites Fill the Skies, UArizona Students Are Making Sure Astronomers Can Adapt

University of Arizona students have completed the first comprehensive brightness study to characterize mega-constellation satellites cluttering the skies.
RAVEN combines rovers and drones to explore landscapes that may otherwise be inaccessible

Project RAVEN, Summer 2022

Associate Professor Christopher Hamilton is again in Iceland this summer, leading a team in support of his RAVEN project. RAVEN combines rovers and drones to explore landscapes that may otherwise be inaccessible, such as young volcanic terrains on Mars that are too rough for a rover to traverse.

 This landscape of what looks like mountains and valleys speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASA's Webb Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth. NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

Webb Telescope's Stunning First Images Made Possible by UArizona Instruments and Expertise

The highly anticipated observations mark just the beginning of many years of new science and discovery, and University of Arizona experts are at the helm.