News | McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences

Postdoc, Research

Unveiling exoplanets: Ekrem Esmer's quest

Ekrem Esmer is a pioneering exoplanet researcher focused on uncovering planets within multistellar systems. His work is reshaping our understanding of planetary formations and interactions in the universe.

6.24.25

Faculty, Graduate, Research

Cosmic ‘lenses’ will better define dark matter

A funky effect Einstein predicted, known as gravitational lensing — when a foreground galaxy magnifies more distant galaxies behind it — will soon become common when NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope begins science operations in 2027 and produces vast surveys of the cosmos.

6.12.25

Faculty, Research

Why the Moon shimmers with shiny glass beads

A WashU researcher helped unlock the secrets of tiny lunar beads.

6.11.25

Faculty, Research

Yajie Yuan takes a computer-powered approach to the cosmos

Yuan, an assistant professor of physics, simulates the enormous energies streaming from black holes and neutron stars.

5.2.25

Research

McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences celebrates 50 years of science and exploration

5.2.25

This image shows a simulated observation from NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope with an overlay of its Wide Field Instrument’s field of view. More than 20 gravitational lenses are expected to pop out in every one of Roman’s vast observations. (Image: NASA, Bryce Wedig, Tansu Daylan and Joseph DePasquale)

Cosmic ‘lenses’ will better define dark matter

Takuya Okawa named semifinalist for Dean’s Award for Graduate Research Excellence

Speaking science to power

Touching the Moon and Mars, right here in St. Louis!

Emily Culley (Photo: Whitney Curtis/WashU)

Class Acts: Emily Culley

High-flying science: How and why we sent a refrigerator halfway to space

Graduate Student Chun Huang discusses new neutron star radius measurement method with AAS

WashU Physics Research Symposium (WUPRS) celebrates sixth year of collaboration and innovation

APS Dissertation Award

Field Notes: South Pacific

XL-Calibur telescope launched to study black holes

Moon ‘swirls’ could be magnetized by unseen magmas