University of Arizona in the News

More than four centuries after Galileo peered into the cucumber-thin lens, NASA is scheduled to launch the largest, most powerful, and most hotly anticipated telescope ever put into space. Billed as Hubble's scientific successor, James Webb will be able to track down light from the universe's infancy, which we know precious little about. "Even by ground-based telescope standards, it's a good-sized telescope," said Marcia Rieke of the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, who has been on the working group for the Webb project since the late 1990s.

Two long-time University of Arizona astronomers are awaiting the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. The mission is designed to help scientists look deeper into the universe than ever before. Researchers George and Marcia Rieke talk about how they became involved in designing two of the experiments being carried by the spacecraft.

A white Christmas seems to be slowly morphing from a reliable reality to a memory for large swaths of the United States in recent decades, according to an analysis of ground observation data led by University of Arizona atmospheric scientist Xubin Zeng. The data show From 1981 to 1990, on average, almost 47% of the country had snow on the ground on Christmas Day, with an average depth of 3.5 inches. From 2011 to 2020, Christmas snow cover was down to 38%, with an average depth of 2.7 inches. The numbers are small enough that it’s difficult to tell whether this is a meaningful trend and, if so, whether climate change or natural weather variability is the cause, said Zeng.

Two long-time University of Arizona astronomers are awaiting the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. The mission is designed to help scientists look deeper into the universe than ever before. Researchers George and Marcia Rieke talk about how they became involved in designing two of the experiments being carried by the spacecraft.