About Us
Founded in 1944, the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science develops philanthropic support for the Weizmann Institute in Israel, and advances its mission of science for the benefit of humanity.
Jan 27, 2020...
Similar to the gas giant planets Jupiter and Saturn, their smaller cousins, Uranus and Neptune, have long been known to harbor swirling clouds and violent winds churning up their atmospheres. Massive bands of jet streams encircling the entire planet have been observed in each case.
But given that Uranus’ atmosphere is believed to be thick enough to swallow Earth entirely, it was not known just how far the weather perturbations reach into the planet’s interior.
Aug 12, 2019... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—August 12, 2019—Weighing in at just about 160 kg (around 353 lbs), a new type of scientific satellite is planned to be built in Israel over the next four years, with a projected launch date of 2023. The satellite, known as ULTRASAT, will carry a telescope designed to observe the universe as it has never been seen before: it will operate in a range of light that is normally invisible to us – ultraviolet, or UV – and have a very large field of view.
Mar 02, 2020...
When a massive star reaches the end of its life, it can explode as a supernova. But there’s a unique type of supernova that’s much brighter that we’re just starting to understand – and which may prove useful in measuring the universe.
Known as superluminous supernovae, these events are typically 10 to 100 times brighter than a regular supernova but much more rare. We’ve spotted about 100 so far, but many aspects of these events remain elusive.
Aug 01, 2019...
What is your field of study?
I did my doctorate in high-energy physics – particle physics – and my research is on astroparticles.
Could you explain to laypeople what that means?
As we all learned in high school, we are made of molecules, atoms, protons, neutrons and electrons. But we can actually go down to a more precise resolution because the protons and neutrons are composed of smaller particles, called quarks. And there are also a great many more particles that are created at very high energies. With particle accelerators – if they are particle accelerators such as the sun, gamma-ray bursts and supernovas –
Aug 12, 2019...
The Weizmann Institute of Science and the Israel Space Agency will work together to create a new "micro-satellite," the ULTRASAT, projected to launch in 2023 (Weizmann Institute of Science)
The satellite, known as ULTRASAT and weighing just 160 kilograms (353 pounds), will carry a telescope “designed to observe the Universe as it has not been seen it before,” the institute said in a statement.
May 15, 2020...
In the search for life beyond Earth, Israel Space Agency (ISA) is among four finalists chosen by NASA to develop concept studies in NASA's Discovery Program for new missions. The ISA's proposal is to launch an investigative mission to Neptune's largest moon, Triton.
Each of the four finalists, who were selected out of a group of 22, is set to receive $3 million in the coming year to develop their plans before two are selected for missions.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/nasa-s-next-destination/
May 14, 2020...
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—May 14, 2020—An incredibly accurate clock planned by the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Israel Space Agency (ISA), and an Israeli company could be on its way to Neptune’s largest moon in 2026.
If life does exist outside of Earth in our Solar System, it could be hiding in subterranean oceans flowing under the surface of icy moons. One of the most promising candidates for such an underground liquid body is Triton – aptly named for the son of the sea god Neptune, the planet around which it orbits. Triton, Neptune’s largest moon, some 4.5 billion km (2.8 million miles) away, is an oddity: it orbits in the opposite direction from all of Neptune’s other moons. Some think this points to an origin outside of our Solar System: the moon may be an intruder that was trapped long ago by Neptune’s gravitational field.
Jun 10, 2020...
Is there life on Triton, the largest moon circling the planet Neptune? An Israeli project aims to find out. One of its key measurement tools will be a super-accurate clock that loses less than one second every 10 million years.
But first, the Israeli project – dubbed “Trident” after the Roman sea god Neptune’s three-pronged spear – must be chosen by NASA to head to space.
Trident, sponsored by the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Israel Space Agency, is one of four projects chosen out of 22 proposals. Each project will now receive $3 million. However, only two will make the final cut for launch in 2026. The craft is expected to reach Neptune in 2038.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/the-magnetic-history-of-ice/
Jun 29, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—June 29, 2020—The history of our planet has been written, among other things, in the periodic reversal of its magnetic poles. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science propose a new means of reading this historic record: in ice. Their findings, which were recently reported in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, could lead to a refined method of probing ice cores and, in the future, might be applied to understanding the magnetic history of other bodies in our solar system, including Mars and Jupiter’s moon Europa.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/small-water-ice-reservoirs-dot-the-lunar-surface/
Oct 27, 2020...
Small shadowed cold traps scattered across the lunar polar regions could contain up to 20 percent of the frozen water on the Moon, making accessing water sources easier for lunar visitors.
“Future lunar rovers may have a hard time driving into a large dark crater with extremely low temperatures. Small cold traps are far more accessible,” Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Norbert Schorghofer said. “Approximately 10 to 20% of the permanent cold-trap area for water is found to be contained in these micro cold traps. In terms of numbers, most cold traps are smaller than 1 meter.”
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