Giant planet atmospheres vary widely, JWST confirms
Researchers discovered that the atmosphere of exoplanet HD149026b, a ‘hot Jupiter’ orbiting a star comparable to our sun, is super-abundant in the heavier elements carbon and oxygen.
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Fostering cooperative research in space sciences
Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science
The Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science (CCAPS) fosters cooperative research among astronomers, engineers, geologists and other researchers with specialties relevant to space sciences. Connected to and contained within the Department of Astronomy, CCAPS administers research grants and contracts across several Cornell Departments. CCAPS was founded in 1959 as the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, by Cornell professor Thomas Gold (1920-2004), and renamed in 2015.
Explore CCAPS
Interdisciplinary Research
The Carl Sagan Institute
The interdisciplinary Carl Sagan Institute is actively searching for signs of life on other worlds, creating novel strategies – a “forensic toolkit” -- for discovering life from the solar system to the Galaxy. Researchers at CSI explore planets, moons and planetary systems, including how they form and evolve, and whether they can harbor life.
Missions
Cornell astronomers have been, and are, leading the direction of space exploration, including having chaired NASA’s Advisory Council and Space Science Advisory as well as panels for the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032. Cornell astronomers currently have roles in almost three-quarters of all active NASA missions, including the Perseverance Mars2020 and Insight missions currently on Mars; the Juno mission exploring Jupiter; the forthcoming Europa Clipper mission to an ocean world, the James Webb Space Telescope that will search for exoplanets; and the Dragonfly mission to Titan.
Featured Mission: James Webb Space Telescope
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope — the largest and most powerful space science observatory ever built — is designed to give astronomers unprecedented insight into the mysteries of the cosmos. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency. It is scheduled to launch this fall. Cornell University scientists are playing key roles in the mission.
Click here to learn more about the involvement of CCAPS researchers.
CCAPS News
First known interstellar interloper resembles ‘dark comet’
Insights from Oumuamua could advance our understanding of planet formation in this solar system and others.
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Astronomers discover metal-rich galaxies in early universe
Scanning the first images of a well-known early galaxy taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Cornell astronomers were intrigued to see a blob of light near its outer edge.
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Support Arts & Sciences on Giving Day March 16
On Thursday, March 16, join the Cornell community to make a difference for students on Cornell Giving Day.
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Robot provides unprecedented views below Antarctic ice shelf
A U.S.-New Zealand research team recognized a shift as evidence of “ice pumping” – a process important to the stability of the Ross Ice Shelf.
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Astronomers discover metal-rich galaxies in early universe
Cornell astronomers discovered a companion galaxy estimated at 1.4 billion years old while scanning images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
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Underwater robot helps explain Antarctic glacier’s retreat
First-of-their-kind observations beneath the floating shelf of a vulnerable Antarctic glacier reveal widespread cracks and crevasses where melting occurs more rapidly, contributing to the glacier’s retreat.
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Cornell-led telescope project completion in sight
The Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope “will be able to look regularly at frequency ranges very few other telescopes can even detect."
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SPIF: Bringing Research and Educational Support to the Community
The Spacecraft Planetary Image Facility (SPIF) is an active research facility, providing assistance to students and planetary scientists worldwide in GIS and image processing. It is also a public facility open to visitors, and provides outreach services and PreK-12 educational support throughout the Central New York region, and beyond through virtual programs. SPIF supports the Cornell Department of Astronomy in undergraduate education, student research, NASA mission science operations, and community outreach. The facility is located on Cornell's main Ithaca campus in the Space Sciences Building. It has been in operation since 1980 and is currently sponsored by the Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science (CCAPS).
