By Heidi Toth
NAU Communications
Colin Chandler’s middle name is Orion.
It should be no surprise, then, that at age 7 he was stargazing, or that today, after years owning an IT business in Silicon Valley, he has chosen a career as an astronomer. Like his namesake, he is a celestial hunter, searching space for hints at signs of life on other planets or simply the existence of other planets altogether.
His search just got some help, when Chandler, who is… Read more
NAU makes history with three students chosen as Goldwater Scholars – NAU News : NAU News
By Carly Banks
NAU Communications
For the first time in the school’s history, three Northern Arizona University students have been selected as Goldwater Scholars.
The prestigious award, given to undergraduate students studying natural sciences, mathematics or engineering, provides one- or two-year full-ride scholarships to each of the recipients.
This year, 1,280 STEM students were nominated by campus representatives from more than 2,000 colleges and universities nationwide. Among the 211 selected to receive scholarships for the 2018-19 academic year were NAU biology… Read more
NAU planetary scientist’s study suggests widespread presence of water on the Moon – NAU News : NAU News
By Kerry Bennett
Office of the Vice President for Research
NAU assistant professor of planetary science Christopher Edwards co-authored a paper recently published in Nature Geoscience that has generated interest among scientists in the field as well as in mainstream science news, such as Science Daily.
The researchers analyzed remote-sensing data from two lunar missions and concluded that water appears to be evenly spread across the surface of the moon, not confined to a particular region or… Read more
Scientists propose exploring Mars with drones and virtual reality at NAU – NAU News : NAU News
NAU astrophysics researchers and the Interactive + Immersive Virtual Reality Lab (IVR) are collaborating to propose new methods to explore the surface of Mars.
Current rover science is limited to a semi-autonomous probe with on-board instruments to sample and send data back to Earth. While they have yielded enormous amounts of data, scientists have not been able to interpret all of it.
“Rovers are currently very limited, in terms of how much of an area they can see,” assistant professor… Read more
Heavenly headway: NAU’s growing astronomy program increasing exploration into secrets of space – NAU News : NAU News
By Heidi Toth
NAU Communications
One Friday afternoon in the fall semester, half a dozen Northern Arizona University graduate students sat around a table in a gathering area, eating Oreos and discussing a mysterious space object a telescope had picked up. A few of their professors—some new to the university, part of an expanding department, others for whom NAU is a longtime home—joined them, discussing what they knew and what they thought about the object, now thought to be… Read more
What Makes Jupiter’s Great Spot Red? It’s Still a Mystery
Space.com article By Science & Astronomy
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot has swirled for hundreds of years, but the source of its distinctive color remains a mystery. New laboratory experiments are working to produce that color — and others found in Jupiter’s stormy cloud tops — here on Earth, and researchers have found that radiation and temperature play key roles… Read more