News/Events

Extrasolar Trojans, or exotrojans which are asteroids that share the same orbit as an exoplanet (a planet outside of our solar system), are still enigmatic to astronomers. Named for the famed heroes of the Trojan War, our solar system’s Trojans are essentially cosmic fossils from the formation of our solar system. We don’t know much about their extrasolar counterparts, but now a West Virginia University (WVU) graduate student is pioneering our understanding of these leftover space rocks that may one day give us a better understanding of how our solar system was created.

WVUniverse presents the next talk, "Backyard Radio Astronomy".

When searching for Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) across our vast Universe, we must first sift through the dense gas and dust of our own galaxy, the Milky Way, in order to get an observable signal.

Space plasma dominates our solar system and makes up about 99% of visible matter in our universe. Conducted by electricity, the choreography of space plasma affects everything from space weather, GPS accuracy, radio communications and more. 

While automation has become the new normal in our everyday modern lives, it is also assisting scientists in making strides in analyzing large data sets. With decades of archival data from radio telescopes from around the world available in storage, astronomers at West Virginia University (WVU) are using automation and machine learning techniques to dig through mounds of archival data with the hopes of uncovering new clues about mysterious cosmic phenomena like Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). 

The first WVUniverse talk for the new year will be an 'explosive' one.

The final WVUniverse talk of 2025 will be held on December 12th and will feature Graham Doskoch, a graduate student in the West Virginia University (WVU) Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology.

Scientists know dark energy makes up about 70% of the universe and is responsible for the universe’s accelerating expansion. Beyond that, little about it is certain, so WVU engineer Kevin Bandura is enhancing the calibration of radio telescopes that can tell astronomers about dark energy by measuring the “neutral hydrogen” in the universe, a simple form of hydrogen with no net electric charge.

WVUniverse presents "Mysterious, Marvelous Cryogeology" with special guest Caitlin Ahrens, PhD. 

The WVUniverse series is back with an exciting lineup of public talks, perfectly tailored for all ages.