The Development of the Satellite UVI-BurstCube

December 22, 2017 - The University of the Virgin Islands will soon have its own satellite. Its physics program is developing the UVI-BurstCube satellite. This project is supported by the UVI NASA-EPSCoR collaboration. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NASA-EPSCoR) is the program that first funded the revitalization of the Etelman Observatory under Dr. David Morris’ directorship some six years ago and which allowed the physics group to hire its first full-time astronomer at UVI, Dr. Bruce Gendre.Read More

UVI’s Etelman Observatory Helped with Landmark Neutron Star Observations

October 16, 2017 - For the first time, scientists have directly detected both gravitational waves – ripples in space and time – and also light from the spectacular collision of two neutron stars, and the University of the Virgin Island’s Etelman Observatory played a role in this observation. The achievement was marked by news conferences and releases from scientific institutions around the world, including the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI).Read More

UVI Astronomers Granted Access to World’s Largest Telescopes

March 02, 2017 - Astronomers from the University of the Virgin Islands were granted access to two of the world's largest telescopes located in Chile and Hawaii. The National Optical Astronomy observatory has given these astronomers a chance to participate in cutting edge work. Scientists, students and collaborators now have a better way to observe gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). GRBs are phenomena caused by exploding stars 30 to 100 times larger than our Sun. These may be the explosions of first generation stars which gives emerging astronomers a deeper understanding of the formation of the universe.Read More