Physics & Astronomy

Mar 18, 2020
Rebecca Riley remembers feeling drawn to the stars since she was less than three years old, when she — and this is her first memory — would go outside with her grandparents in Clay County, Alabama and lay on a blanket and watch the night sky.
Mar 13, 2020
Come July 1, Stephanie Sallum will become a new assistant professor of astronomy in the Physics and Astronomy Department. She comes to UCI from her postdoctoral position at UC Santa Cruz with plans to capture, along with a team of other researchers, direct images of exoplanets that are still forming around distant stars.
Mar 10, 2020
In February, Virginia Trimble, an astronomer in the UCI Department of Physics and Astronomy, became a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). This is the first time in its 121-year history that the AAS has given fellowships of any kind to its members, and, through its Legacy Fellows, the society is shining a light on members who sculpted astronomy into the field it is today.
Mar 8, 2020
In physical sciences, we celebrate #InternationalWomensDay and #WomensHistoryMonth. Here are a few inspirational women with pioneering research in our school:
Mar 6, 2020
On February 19, Professors Eric Rignot, Timothy Tait and Jenny Yang all received 2019-2020 Distinguished Faculty Awards from the UCI Academic Senate during an evening ceremony at the Newkirk Alumni Center. The professors swept the Senates’ research awards categories; Professor Rignot received the Distinguished Senior Faculty Award for Research, while Professors Yang and Tait received the Distinguished Mid-Career Faculty Award for Research and the Distinguished Early-Career Faculty Award for…
Mar 1, 2020
In February, Virginia Trimble, an astronomer in the UCI Department of Physics and Astronomy, became a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). This is the first time in its 121-year history that the AAS has given fellowships of any kind to its members, and, through its Legacy Fellows, the society is shining a light on members who sculpted astronomy into the field it is today.
Feb 20, 2020
Using the Habitable Zone Planet Finder instrument, a team of scientists – including UCI astronomer Paul Robertson – has confirmed that an object previously detected by the Kepler space telescope is an exoplanet, a planet orbiting a star outside our solar system.
Feb 5, 2020
(CNN) -- An ultramassive monster galaxy dating back to the early days of the universe lived fast and died young, astronomers say in a new study.
Feb 3, 2020
Had Superman had a better grasp of physics, he may have used a more delicate approach when swooping in to catch Lois Lane as she plummeted down from the sky at breakneck speed.
Jan 14, 2020
UCI astronomer Paul Robertson recently celebrated “first light” for NEID, a new exoplanet hunting instrument he helped develop.
Dec 17, 2019
Eight new faculty members join the School of Physical Sciences from universities across the world, bringing new research right from their Ph.D. programs and others bringing their established research ready to revamp. Here are the new faculty members:
Nov 27, 2019
What determines the climate of an Earth-like planet orbiting its host star? And how is that climate affected by the type of star the planet orbits? A new study explores how distant terrestrial worlds are shaped by their hosts.