Department Homepage
Targeting launch Aug. 30, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will attempt to directly image a set of exoplanets selected with help from Cornell faculty member Dmitry Savransky. Cornell College of Arts and Sciences astronomy doctoral students supported the work.
Season 2 of Cornell's Research Matters podcast launches Aug. 25 with 18 episodes on how academic discoveries translate into practical insights that shape everyday life and society. Cornell College of Arts and Sciences faculty from astronomy, government, physics and psychology will be featured in the new season.
Project Hail Mary screening Aug. 28 at Cornell University features astronomers Lisa Kaltenegger and Abigail Bohl discussing habitable rocky exoplanets. Cornell Cinema’s special event also includes a prize drawing and Fuertes Observatory open house.
James Lloyd, Cornell University astronomy professor, died July 15 at 55. The College of Arts & Sciences faculty member advanced exoplanet research, spacecraft instrumentation and astronomy education, mentoring students and leading innovative satellite missions.
We are hosting a special symposium on September 17th 2026, celebrating both scientific discovery at Cornell and the partnerships that make our work possible!
It is with a heavy heart that we share that Professor James Lloyd passed away on July 15, 2026. In his 22 years with Cornell Jamie inspired students, colleagues, friends, and family around the world. Deep condolences go out to his family. A memorial service will be held at a later date.
It is with profound sorrow and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of David L. Pawelczyk Jr., 51, who passed away Wednesday, surrounded by his devoted family. Dave's high energy, unwavering dedication, and infectious passion left a lasting impression on everyone fortunate enough to know him.
A planet survived its star’s death, James Webb Space Telescope observations reveal, offering clues to Jupiter’s fate after the Sun’s demise. Astronomers from Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences show that WD 1856 b migrated later and has methane-rich atmosphere.
Cornell College of Arts and Sciences faculty taught astronomy, writing, civics and other subjects to 18 active-duty and veteran service members visiting Cornell through the non-profit Warrior-Scholar project June 20-27.
Please join us October 12-13, 2026, for a "“Symposium on Planetary Regolith and Aeolian Processes: A tribute to the life and career of Rob Sullivan" at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The program will include public lectures, keynote speakers, and contributed talks.
For her volunteer outreach encouraging local children to learn about physics and reading, Abra Geiger ’26 has won the 2026 University Relations Campus-Community Leadership Award.
Researchers in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences report on the first observations with the Tomographic Ionized-carbon Mapping Experiment (TIME). The instrument uses a technique called line-intensity mapping to explore the early universe.
Cornell University's Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) was formally inaugurated on April 9 in Chile's Atacama Desert, marking a new era in submillimeter astronomy. The CCAT Observatory partnership telescope, led by Cornell, will map galaxy formation, cosmic microwave background radiation, and the epoch of reionization in the submillimeter range faster than any previous instrument.
Two faculty members in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences have been named to the American Philosophical Society (APS) in honor of extraordinary accomplishments: Martha Haynes in astronomy and Caroline Levine in literature, humanities and climate change.
A new exhibit at Fuertes Observatory at Cornell University allows visitors to view 800 glass lantern slides uncovered and catalogued by the Cornell Astronomical Society.
Cornell University celebrates April 9 inauguration of Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope in Chile. President Michael Kotlikoff marked milestone enabling wide-field submillimeter surveys to study dark energy, early universe conditions, and galaxy evolution.
Cornell admits the Class of 2030 emphasizing real-world impact, enrolling 5,776 students from 102 countries. At Cornell University, the diverse cohort reflects the land-grant mission and applied learning goals across multiple colleges.
New Cornell research identifies 45 potentially habitable rocky exoplanets using Gaia data and NASA archives, creating a catalog to guide life-search efforts. Authors are an undergraduate, two recent alumni and Lisa Kaltenegger, professor of astronomy and director of the Carl Sagan Institute in the College of Arts and Sciences.
As the film "Project Hail Mary" hits theaters, Cornell College of Arts and Sciences astrophysicist Lisa Kaltenegger, director of the Carl Sagan Institute, explains how real exoplanet research, habitable zones, and nearby star systems inform the film’s search for extraterrestrial life.
Since the early days of modern cosmic exploration, Cornell scientists have led the way, from guiding rovers through the red dust of Mars to searching for other life in the universe; and from modeling exotic stars to detecting the faint ripples of gravitational waves.
Cornell’s Spacecraft Planetary Image Facility (SPIF), which manages print and online images taken by NASA missions, supports astronomy research and conducts dozens of outreach events every year.
Robert John Sullivan, Jr., one of the world’s foremost authorities on aeolian processes -- how wind can carve and change a landscape -- died Feb. 15 in Ithaca.
Ho is one of 24 early career scholars to receive $120,000 for proposals incorporating research and science education.
When two black holes merge, the collision rings like a bell, emitting specific tones characterized by two numbers.
Thanks to this innovation, scientists have discovered new radio bursts originating from dwarf stars and possibly from exoplanets.
The next time you visit Ithaca, check out exhibits on Chimes history, astronomical instruments, historical keyboards and so much more
In 2026, the from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation will begin funding 10 two-year postdoctoral appointments including three in astronomy, chemistry and physics in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Tasked with studying exoplanet systems around small stars, the refrigerator-sized satellite is the first in NASA’s Astrophysics Pioneers program – small-scale missions designed to train early-career scientists, including Trevor Foote, Ph.D. ’24, a former member of the research group led by faculty member Nikole Lewis.
With the 2026 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize, the American Astronomical Society recognizes Anna Y. Q. Ho’s pioneering investigations of extreme explosions powered by stellar death.
Behind a world-leading telescope bound for Chile is a team of engineers, machinists, electronics specialists and riggers at Cornell. Meet the specialized staff whose expertise is helping push cosmology to new frontiers.
In a new book, Donald Campbell, Ph.D. ’71, professor emeritus of astronomy, recounts the history of Arecibo from construction to its last days under Cornell’s management in 2011.
One of the world's smallest telescopes, it is part of a series of eight terminals installed around the globe.
To equip astronauts with health choices for future missions, a Cornell postdoctoral fellow is leading research with AstroCup, a group that recently tested two menstrual cups in spaceflight as payload on an uncrewed rocket flight.
"Nexus Scholars was the first time where the only thing I had to worry about was research."
The portraits are part of a series by Christopher Michel, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s inaugural artist-in-residence.
Cornell researchers have created the first reflectance spectra – a color-coded key – of microorganisms that live in the clouds floating above Earth’s surface.
Astronomers have generated the first three-dimensional map of a planet orbiting another star, revealing an atmosphere with distinct temperature zones – one so scorching that it breaks down water vapor, a team co-led by a Cornell expert reports in new research.
These simulations, developed with significant input from Cornell researchers using code written at Cornell, help scientists analyze gravitational waves observed by the LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA detectors located in the U.S., Italy and Japan.
The LIGO-VIRGO-KAGRA team has announced a black hole merger similar to its first detection; a decade’s worth of technological advances allow unprecedented tests of General Relativity to be performed.
TRAPPIST-1 e may have an atmosphere that could support having liquid water on the planet’s surface in the form of a global ocean or icy surface, according to new research.
Ten students who participated in this summer's Nexus Scholars Program share their stories..
The award recognizes and honors outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the public.
Phenomena common to Earth’s atmosphere can appear in the skies over some exoplanets of the “hot Jupiter” variety.
The facility, which honors astronomer Vera Cooper Rubin, MS ’51, has released its first images—and they’re mind-blowing
The professorships are made possible because of gifts from alumni, parents and friends.
From designing a reversible male contraceptive to detecting life on distant ocean worlds, the latest Cornell Engineering SPROUT Awards are cultivating breakthroughs across medicine, space exploration, robotics and environmental sensing.
“It’s the cutting edge of what we can achieve, with better precisions and resolutions than other instruments.”
The SETI Institute is pleased to announce Dr. Karen I. Perez as the inaugural recipient of the William J. Welch Postdoctoral Fellowship at the SETI Institute. Beginning in the Fall of 2025, Perez will develop real-time, machine-learning-enabled and GPU- accelerated analysis pipelines for detecting single-pulse transients, as well as narrowband and broadband technosignatures, using the…
The Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways say Ponterio’s support “has been invaluable."