Texas has long fostered a scientific community that is at the forefront of breakthrough research and discovery. Below are just five of the more interesting projects to come out of our research universities in 2013. Despite the ugly 2011 football conference breakup, the bond between UT and A&M is written in the stars. Researchers at both top-tier research universities discovered the most distant galaxy in the universe. Let’s begin in 2009, when space shuttle Atlantis flew to the Hubble Space Telescope and added several improvements, including the wide field camera 3. This camera added the capability for the telescope to see into the near-infrared portion of the spectrum.
The Texan researchers are determined to travel even farther back in time by using the Giant Magellan Telescope, with a projected opening of 2018, suggesting the start-crossed love affair won’t end any time soon. Cosmic fog could be blame, possibly obscuring similar galaxies from current telescopes |