News
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UCF Astronomer is getting ready for the arrival of Comet ISON with fingers crossed.
Comet ISON (C/2012 S1) is on its first trip into the inner Solar System since it was formed 4.5 BILLION years ago. The comet could become the ‘Comet of the Century’ but it could just as well be a big dud. Read more about it in this press release featuring UCF’s own Yan Fernandez.
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Release of American Physical Society’s short film about UCF Physics
Some of our astronomers are highlighted in this 6.5-minute film that summarizes many of the terrific research programs going on here in our Physics Department. The film was created in conjunction with the American Physical Society and was formally released to the public at the recent APS March Meeting.
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UCF Astronomers appear on NBC
In a “Science Behind the News” segment, Joe Harrington and Csaba Palotai discuss their research on how an atmosphere responds to the impact of a comet or asteroid. Very timely stuff given the recent DA14 flyby and the Chelyabinsk bolide! You can watch the 5 minute segment here.
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Hundreds Commemorate Rare Asteroid Encounter
Over 800 people attended our public event commemorating the flyby of asteroid 2012 DA14 past Earth on February 15. Read about how the Orlando Sentinel covered the event.
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2013 Southeast Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics Held at UCF
The Southeast Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (SCUWP) is a three-day conference for undergraduate physics majors in the southeastern United States. The 2013 conference is happening at UCF’s Student Union from the evening of Friday January 18th to the afternoon of Sunday January 20th. Check the conference website for more info.
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International Expert Explains Asteroids ‘Real’ Threat to Earth
Join our very own Prof. Humberto Campins at the Orlando Science Center on Saturday, Dec. 1 for a hands-on program that delivers the real story when it comes to asteroids that threaten Earth. Find out more details about the event at UCFToday.
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UCF Experiment Wins Free trip to the International Space Station
A University of Central Florida experiment that could help explain how planets formed in our solar system has won a free ride to the International Space Station in 2013. Physics professor Joshua Colwell’s experiment is one of eight winners of the Space Florida International Space Station Research Competition sponsored by Space Florida and NanoRacks. Read…
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Whizzing Asteroid Turns Rocket Scientists’ Heads
International leaders in asteroid and comet research are gathering at the University of Central Florida in Orlando Friday, Feb. 15, for a special “viewing party” that will climax with asteroid 2012 DA14 zipping between Earth and orbiting communication satellites (within 14,000 miles of Earth). The asteroid, the size of a city block, will squeeze by…
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UCF Discovers Two Nearby Sub-Earth-Sized Exoplanet Candidates
The UCF Exoplanets Group is pleased to announce the discovery of two new transiting planet candidates (UCF-1.01 and UCF-1.02) orbiting the red-dwarf star GJ 436. The objects are 2/3 the diameter of Earth, making them the closest rocky exoplanets and the only ones within 100 light years. They were found by UCF Graduate Student Kevin Stevenson while he…
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