Category Archives: News

Observing the Night Sky

Observing the sky is one of the most accessible—and at the same time, one of the most profound—scientific experiences available. Unlike many other disciplines, astronomy allows you to begin without any instruments: all you need to do is look up. However, in a context where telescopes are often seen as the starting point, it is…

Found: Most pristine star in the universe

A record-setting pristine star provides a window into the dawn of stars and galaxies in the universe. This groundbreaking find connects the work of two telescopes at Carnegie Science’s Las Campanas Observatory—the du Pont, where spectra for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-V are taken, and the state-of-the-art Magellan Clay. An unusual team of astronomers used…

Swope telescope: five decades of observing and reinvention

The Swope telescope at Carnegie Science’s Las Campanas Observatory in Chile—one of the world’s leading centers for astronomical observation—has witnessed significant scientific and technological advances since it saw first light in 1971. But it has also been the setting for human stories that accompany that evolution, including many career highlights for the observatory’s Resident Astronomer…

Carnegie Science Las Campanas Observatory implements new active optics system to enhance observation quality

The development of MACO enables real-time optimization of the Magellan telescopes’ performance, strengthening scientific operations from Chile. Carnegie Science Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) has taken a key step in modernizing its operations with the implementation of MACO (Magellan Active Optics), a new active optics system designed to improve the quality of observations with the Magellan…

“Extragalactic archeology” reveals nearby galaxy’s evolution

A team of astronomers, including Carnegie Science’s Jeff Rich and other former Carnegie Observatories astronomers, have for the first time traced the history of a galaxy outside our own Milky way by studying chemical fingerprints in deep space, a new approach they are calling “extragalactic archeology.” Their findings are published in Nature Astronomy. “This is…

Representación transversal del espectrógrafo infrarrojo Henrietta.

Unveiling the Atmospheres of Distant Worlds

The Henrietta Infrared Spectrograph will study alien atmospheres in unprecedented detail, transforming how we understand worlds beyond our Solar System. For centuries, people have looked at the night sky and wondered what worlds might orbit other stars. In the past few decades, that question has shifted from imagination to discovery. Thousands of planets have now…