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An Earth-sized rogue planet discovered in the Milky Way

Our Galaxy may be teeming with rogue planets, gravitationally unbound to any star. An international team of scientists, led by Polish astronomers from the University of Warsaw, has announced the discovery of the smallest Earth-sized free-floating planet found to date.

Virgo and LIGO unveil new and unexpected black hole populations

UW scientists from the Astronomical Observatory are part of Virgo and LIGO that detected an extraordinarily massive merging binary system: two black holes of 66 and 85 solar masses, which generated a final black hole of around 142 solar masses. Two scientific papers on the discovery have been published today on Physical Review Letters and Astrophysical Journal Letters respectively.

Dr. Przemysław Mróz awarded the International Astronomical Union 2019 PhD Prize

Dr. Przemysław Mróz has been awarded the International Astronomical Union PhD prize for outstanding scientific achievements of astronomy PhD students around the world for his dissertation "Astrophysical applications of gravitational microlensing in the Milky Way". The thesis was written under the supervision of Professor Andrzej Udalski from the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw

The Second Exoplanet in the Proxima Centauri Planetary System

New observations of Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Solar System, located at a distance of 4.2 light years, have made it possible to reveal the presence of a candidate low-mass planet orbiting the star at a distance 1.5 times greater than that separating the Earth from the Sun.

Global Gaia campaign reveals secrets of stellar pair

A 500-day global observation campaign spearheaded more than three years ago by ESA’s galaxy-mapping powerhouse Gaia has provided unprecedented insights into the binary system of stars that caused an unusual brightening of an even more distant star.

World media on a unique map of the Milky Way

UW astronomers constructed the most detailed 3-D map yet of the Milky Way. On 1st August, their study was published in the journal Science. Research, conducted by the UW scientists, aroused world media interest.

Two new rogue planets

Theories of planet formation predict the existence of free-floating planets that were ejected from their parent planetary systems and are floating alone through space. Astronomers from the Warsaw University Observatory have found two new rogue worlds. The discovery has been published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics”.

Astronomers discover a new class of X-ray sources

Sun and other stars in the Milky Way emit radiation that can be detected by human eyes. Astronomers, however, know many celestial objects that can radiate their energy in the form of X-rays. An international team of scientists, which includes astronomers from the Astronomical Observatory of UW, reported in the “Nature Astronomy” journal the discovery of a new class of X-ray sources.

Prof. A. Udalski with the Karl Schwarzschild Medal 2018

The German Astronomical Society (AG) awarded Professor Andrzej Udalski from the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw the Karl Schwarzschild Medal 2018.

Using neutrinos and gammas to chase the origin of cosmic rays

The scientists have observed the source for a high-energy cosmic neutrino coming from outside our galaxy. The article in “Science” magazine describes the observational campaign and its results.

Tycho Brahe Prize 2018 for Prof. Andrzej Udalski

Prof. Andrzej Udalski from the University of Warsaw has received the Tycho Brahe Prize 2018 “in recognition of the role as driving force behind OGLE (Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment)”.

Light from two colliding neutron stars

LIGO and Virgo make first detection of gravitational waves produced by colliding neutron stars. Scientists from the UW contributed to this discovery.

The LIGO-Virgo network detected gravitational wave

The Virgo collaboration and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration report the three-detector observation of gravitational waves. This result highlights the potential of a network of gravitational waves.

Free-floating planets in the Milky Way

The astronomers from the OGLE team found hints of a population of Earth-mass free-floating planets, ejected from their parent planetary systems and gravitationally unbound to any star.

25 years of the OGLE project

One of the largest observing program in the history of the Polish astronomy marks its 25 years. From 24th to 28th July the international conference concerning the OGLE project will be held at the UW.

BLAPs – a new class of pulsating stars

Astronomers from the OGLE project have discovered an unknown class of pulsing variable stars. The discovery has been published in the prestigious “Nature Astronomy” journal.

A third detection of Gravitational Waves

A third detection of gravitational waves, ripples in space and time, has been made. The scientist from the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw contributed to this discovery.

Prof. Udalski awarded Dan David Prize

On 21st May Professor Andrzej Udalski from the Astronomical Observatory of the UW has received the Dan David Prize. This award belongs to the top ten prestigious distinctions in the world.

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