Latest from KIPAC

Oct 18, 2023 – News

Peeking through clouds, an ‘annular eclipse’ crossed the sky from Oregon to Texas on Saturday morning

Oct 17, 2023 – News

Spectators of all ages gathered at Stanford on Saturday to observe a partial solar eclipse, meet KIPAC scientists, and toast marshmallows with sunlight reflected off parabolic mirrors.

Sep 29, 2023 – News

Three SLAC scientists explain what they do to ensure the world's largest digital camera for astronomy is ready for the big time.

Aug 25, 2023 – Research Highlight
Since the 1960s there has been plenty of evidence to support the existence of dark matter through astrophysical and cosmological observations, and at this point we’re very confident that it exists. The question remains, though: what is dark matter actually made of? Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs)? Neutrinos? Primordial black holes? Or none of the above?
Aug 15, 2023 – News

Line intensity mapping measurements taken with a new type of instrument will allow astrophysicists to study galaxies too far away for traditional survey methods.

Jul 28, 2023 – News

The reanalysis considered new types of particle collisions and how dark matter particles interact with the Earth. While it didn’t reveal dark matter interactions, it set stricter limits for future detection.

Jul 19, 2023 – News

The Advanced Simons Observatory will use the cosmic microwave background to help us understand the evolution of the universe and the many phenomena within it.

Jul 13, 2023 – News

Astrophysicist Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez explains the extraordinary new results from the Survey of extragalactric magnetism with the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SALSA) project, which compared magnetic fields from different environments in deep space.

Jul 6, 2023 – Research Highlight
At the center of each galaxy lurks a supermassive black hole (SMBH). These black holes grow during phases of extreme accretion when nearby gas and dust fall into their deep gravitational wells, which we observe as active galactic nuclei (AGN). Zooming out to much greater distances, halos of dark matter surround each galaxy, extending millions of light-years. But while various galaxy properties are known to correlate with SMBHs and their dark matter halos separately, the black hole - dark matter halo connection has been less explored. How does the dark matter environment of a galaxy impact the growth and coevolution of its central supermassive black hole?