SLAC topics

Astrophysics and cosmology RSS feed

SLAC’s astrophysicists and cosmologists pursue top-priority research on topics including dark matter and dark energy, the formation of galaxies and cosmic evolution. 

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Astrophysics and cosmology

Dwarf Galaxy 3.

News Feature

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

A digital sensor array is visible through a large camera lens inside a white room.
News Feature

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

The South Pole Telescope
News Feature

The first batch of data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument is now available for researchers to mine. Taken during the experiment’s “survey validation”...

A telescope building sits atop a mountain in twilight.
News Feature

The results offer important implications for astrophysics and nuclear fusion research.

NIF experiment
News Feature

The synthetic galaxy catalog will help test Roman's capabilities and foster collaboration with the Rubin project. 

A field of bright spots on a black background.
Explore our Frontier Research

To explore the birth of the universe, the formation of stars and galaxies and the fundamental structure of space and time, SLAC researchers develop cutting-edge technologies for sensitive experiments located deep underground, on the surface and in space.

This composite image shows the galaxy cluster 1E 0657-56, also known as the "bullet cluster."
Photograph
Hannah Pollek (right) and Travis Lange at the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) raft installation.
Hannah Pollek (right), and Travis Lange at the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) raft installation.
News Feature

An enormous vat of pure liquid xenon will help scientists at SLAC and around the globe learn more about the universe.

A collection of pipes, towers, and other equipment
Animation
This animation shows how krypton (red) is removed from xenon gas (blue) by flowing the combined gases through a column of charcoal (black specks)...
A blue cloud with red spots travels downward, passing gray spots. As it does, the red spots move downward faster.
News Feature
VIA Stanford News

The power of awe and the cosmos

A cosmologist, cultural historian, and neurosurgeon discuss how outer space and otherworldly phenomena can inspire discovery across disciplines and bring people together.

Image of galaxies of different colors and varied, warped shapes.
Press Release
A new study has found that “diamond rain,” a long-hypothesized exotic type of precipitation on ice giant planets, could be more common than previously...
Diamond rain formation
News Feature

An extension of the Stanford Research Computing Facility will host several data centers to handle the unprecedented data streams that will be produced by...

SRCF-II