News/Events

Residing in the heart of a dwarf galaxy four billion light years away is a mysterious cosmological object producing bursts of energy that only last a few milliseconds. New research about this Fast Radio Burst (FRB) has revealed a rarely seen astronomical environment around its source, where magnetic fields twist, turn, and undulate over time. This is the first detection of a magnetic field reversal observed from an FRB, and the first time this behavior has been observed in another galaxy.

West Virginia has some of the darkest skies around, which often goes unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of our everyday life. The WVU Planetarium and Observatory has a special interest in preserving the beauty and clarity of the night sky.  

West Virginia students learn how to map the Galaxy to better understand our Universe.

Featured at the 241st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), Dr. Jason E. Ybarra led a session dedicated to discussing neurodiversity in astronomy, specifically addressing the challenges and opportunities in the field.

The Department of Physics at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez (UPRM) received a 3-year award from the National Science Foundation's Partnerships for Research and Education in Physics (NSF PREP) Program for the total amount of $520,646. This award will fund a partnership between UPRM Physics and the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) Physics Frontiers Center (PFC). The Principal Investigator (PI) of this research and educational partnership is Dr. Henri Radovan (UPRM Physics), while the participating NANOGrav institutions include West Virginia University (co-PI and NANOGrav PFC co-Director Dr. Maura McLaughlin), University of Central Florida/Arecibo Observatory (co-PI Dr. Benetge Perera), Rochester Institute of Technology (co-PI Dr. Michael Lam), and Franklin & Marshall College (co-PI Dr. Fronefield Crawford). Other senior personnel at UPRM Physics include Dr. Erick Roura.

From the depths of space, astronomers have detected a “heartbeat.”  

The Southeastern Universities Research Association honored Dr. Maura McLaughlin, Director of the Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology with the SURA Distinguished Scientist Award.