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Flea on Pluto? Arecibo Observatory Helps Provide Unprecedented View of Pulsar
The Arecibo Observatory, managed by UCF, recently helped provide unprecedented details of a pulsar 6,500 light years from Earth. By Zenaida Kotala Imagine being able to see a flea on the surface of Pluto. That’s a good way to describe what the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico helped a group of Canadian researchers do. The team, led […]
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UCF Planetary Physicist Crowned Space Engineering Rock Star
By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala UCF planetary physicist Philip Metzger has been crowned one of space engineering’s rock stars by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Metzger, who is an associate in planetary science research at UCF’s Florida Space Institute in Central Florida Research Park, was honored with ASCE’s Outstanding Technical Contribution Award this month. The award […]
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UCF on Track to Become National Leader in Space Research
When the University of Central Florida took the helm of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico on April 1, the university entered a new era. “We are forging new ground for UCF,” said Elizabeth Klonoff, vice president for research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies. “We already have outstanding research in planetary sciences, […]
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Congratulations, 2018 Pegasus Professors!
UCF’s annual Founders’ Day Honors Convocation celebrates outstanding achievements of the university’s faculty members, staff and students. Among the recognitions this year are five Pegasus Professors, three from the College of Sciences. View a full list of Founders’ Day Honors Convocation honorees. The Pegasus Professor Award is the highest academic honor an educator can receive at UCF and rewards highly […]
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UCF-led Consortium to Manage Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico
By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala The observatory’s radar system gathers information about planets, moons, asteroids and comets. (Image courtesy of Arecibo Observatory, a facility of the NSF) The largest fully operational radio telescope on the planet – the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico – will soon be under new management. A consortium led by the University […]
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Mining for Moon Water
by Zenaida Kotala UCF’s Phil Metzger and Julie Brisset from the Florida Space Institute recently landed a contract to develop a model to mine the moon for water. Data suggests the moon has water locked away in its icy soil, especially at the moon’s poles. The challenge is finding an effective and inexpensive way to […]
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First Confirmed Object From Other Star System
by Zenaida Kotala A cigar-shaped asteroid making its way through our solar system to an unknown destination is capturing the imagination of scientists around the globe. This is this first confirmed object from another star system, which is what got University of Central Florida Associate Professor Yan Fernandez fired up and calling up friends to […]
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Researcher Works to Explain Mars Clay
by Zenaida Kotala A study published today in Nature provides a new explanation for how clay formed on Mars, which could help scientists and engineers figure out how to unlock the early climate history of the planet. “The basic recipe for making clay is you take rock and you add heat and water,” said Kevin […]
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International Observe the Moon Night
By Barb Abney An event for lunar observers is planned Oct. 29 at UCF’s Knights Plaza with telescopes, a mining robot and other activities. The event, organized by the UCF physics department, Robinson Observatory and student organizations including the Astronomy Society, is being held as part of the worldwide celebration of lunar science and exploration. […]
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UCF Space Program Honored at Center Field
UCF has a strong connection to space. At Spectrum Stadium, Physics Professor Joshua Colwell was honored at the UCF Homecoming football game. He has ongoing research with commercial space companies and NASA, including the historic Cassini mission to explore Saturn. Assistant Professor Adrienne Dove, also joined him on the field. She was honored with NASA’s Susan […]
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Team Building Mini Satellite to Fly in Space in 2018
by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala A team of UCF researchers and their students is building a small satellite that will conduct experiments as it orbits the Earth next year. The NASA-funded project code-named Q-PACE will help Physics Professor Joshua Colwell and his team better understand how planets form. The experiments involve marble-sized particles and what happens […]
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Physicist’s Career Launched by Cassini Mission
by Zenaida Kotala When NASA’s Cassini mission ends on Sept. 15 by plunging into Saturn’s atmosphere, one UCF professor will be reminiscing about the mission that launched his career and the family he’s made throughout the almost 20-year journey. Physics Professor Josh Colwell began working on the Cassini mission right out of graduate school after […]
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UCF Space Experts in Hot Demand
By Zenaida Kotala UCF has diligently and methodically been making a name for itself in the world of planetary exploration, and it’s beginning to pay off in big ways. Not only are two UCF professors part of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to collect asteroid samples – a first for the United States, but scientists are playing […]
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The 2017-18 Distinguished Speaker Series is Here!
The UCF College of Sciences Distinguished Speaker Series is back this September with six UCF faculty who are experts in topics relevant to the natural, computational, social or behavioral sciences and the developments in their respective fields. This year’s 2017-18 series will be held monthly at Tuscawilla Country Club at 6 p.m., from September 2017 […]
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UCF Expert Teams up with Astronaut for World Asteroid Day
Story by Zenaida Kotala For the third annual World Asteroid Day on Friday, UCF physics Professor Humberto Campins is teaming up with friend and astronaut Tom Jones for a special presentation at Kennedy Space Center beginning at 1:30 p.m. They will talk to the public about the importance of learning everything possible about asteroids. Asteroids represent a […]
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Bizarro Comet Challenging Central Florida Researchers
Original story by Zenaida Kotala Scientists pursue research through observation, experimentation and modeling. They strive for all of these pieces to fit together, but sometimes finding the unexpected is even more exciting. That’s what happened to University of Central Florida’s astrophysicist Gal Sarid, who studies comets, asteroids and planetary formation and earlier this year was part […]
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NASA Asteroid Mission Leader Is Coming to UCF
Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, will give a public talk at the University of Central Florida on June 2 about the mission that’s working to recover samples of a nearby asteroid. Lauretta, a professor of planetary science and cosmochemistry at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, is working with UCF Physics Professor Humberto Campins, on […]
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Lunar Knights Compete in NASA Robotic Competition
By Rachel Williams University of Central Florida students who make up the Lunar Knights Mining Club will compete this month in NASA’s national Robotic Mining Competition that was developed to help in the exploration of Mars. The eighth annual competition is May 22-26 at Kennedy Space Center. About 50 student teams from across the country […]
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Researchers with UCF Connections Honored with Asteroid Names
Original story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala. The University of Central Florida hosts a chapter of an out-of-this-world club, which recently grew by two. Planetary astronomer Noemi Pinilla-Alonso from the Florida Space Institute and UCF alumna Emily Kramer were honored when asteroids were named after them to recognize their contributions to planetary science research. That increases the […]
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UCF Physics Team Finds Solution for Celestial Radiation
University of Central Florida Department of Physics Professor Dan Britt, Ph.D., and UCF planetary sciences doctoral student Leos Pohl believe there is an alternative to battling radiation in space. Research of the UCF scientists was recently featured in a New Scientist article, ‘Asteroid clay is a better space radiation shield than aluminium,’ published March 14, […]
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NASA Mission is One Step Closer to Launching into Space
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today A NASA instrument that will study the upper atmosphere and the impact of space weather on Earth is a step closer on its journey into space. The Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission, led by University of Central Florida scientist Richard Eastes, is scheduled to […]
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Physics Professor on Good Day Orlando
University of Central Florida Physics Professor Dan Britt, Ph.D., was a special guest on FOX 35’s morning show, “Good Day Orlando,” on Friday morning, January 13. Britt, director of the Center for Lunar & Asteroid Surface Science at UCF , will help explore some of the oldest asteroids in the solar system thanks to a […]
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Professor’s Research Part of First Mission to Trojan Asteroids
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today University of Central Florida Physics Professor Dan Britt, Ph.D., will help explore some of the oldest asteroids in the solar system thanks to a new NASA mission. NASA, this month selected the Lucy mission, which will explore Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids for the first-time. The robotic spacecraft will also explore […]
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UCF to Host Moon Viewing
Story by Bernard Wilchusky, UCF Today UCF’s Planetary Sciences Group will host a telescopic-viewing night of the moon in a new location Thursday, Dec. 8. For the first time, telescopes will be set up from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in front of Millican Hall near the Reflecting Pond. Hurricane Matthew interfered with the originally scheduled […]
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New Ways to Colonize Mars
Two researchers at the University of Central Florida were featured in an article published by The Atlantic titled ‘The Low-Tech Way to Colonize Mars.” The article focuses on the research conducted by Philip Metzger, Ph.D., an associate in planetary science research at the Florida Space Institute, and his team. Daniel Britt, Ph.D., professor in the Department of […]
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Physics Professor Achieves Astronomic Dream
Story by By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today Humberto Campins grew up looking at the night sky and reading The Little Prince. The children’s story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is about a man who crashes his plane in the middle of the Sahara Desert. While he’s making repairs, a boy shows up. He is the […]
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Physics Professor Sheds Light on New Planet
The discovery of the new exoplanet Proxima Centauri b seems like a story out of a science fiction novel – maybe because it actually is. The plot of science fiction author Stephen Baxter’s 2015 book Proxima is about an expedition to the actual red dwarf star Proxima Centauri and the colonization of an Earth-sized planet […]
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Physics Student Wins with Research
UCF Physics doctoral student Jenna Crowell was the winner of the best student poster award at the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) annual meeting this summer. Supported by NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), Crowell attended the annual meeting in Beijing, China from July 31- August 5. Her presented poster won the top […]
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For the Love of Halley’s Comet
The beauty of Halley’s Comet streaking through the night sky in 1986 is responsible for launching Yan Fernandez, Ph.D.’s, career, which next month puts him smack in the middle of a historic NASA mission to explore a nearby asteroid. The University of Central Florida associate professor of physics is one of the scientists working on the […]
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Physics Faculty Lead Conference
UCF Physics professor Daniel Britt, Ph.D., who was recently selected to take part in the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) New Horizons extended mission, continues to make waves in the world of physics. Most recently, he assisted in organizing the International Conference on the Exploration of Phobos and Deimos hosted by NASA […]