Geschichten aus Sternenstaub: Die von der U of A geleitete Mission wird das Licht entfernter Sterne untersuchen

NASA has awarded $20 million to a University of Arizona team that is building a small space telescope specializing in detecting polarization in ultraviolet light from distant stars. From its vantage point in low-Earth orbit, the instrument – dubbed [PUFFINS](https://puffins-mission.github.io/) – will stare at about 70 stars to analyze how their light has been altered by interstellar dust on its journey to Earth.

PUFFINS is the second Pioneers mission led by the U of A since NASA kicked off the [Astrophysics Pioneers program](https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/programs/astrophysics-pioneers/) in 2020. U of A is leading [Aspera](https://astro.arizona.edu/news/u-led-nasa-aspera-mission-hits-spacecraft-milestone) and contributed significantly to [Pandora](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/pandora/), both first-generation Astrophysics Pioneers missions. Pandora was launched in January of this year, and Aspera is set to be launched in early next year. PUFFINS is a joint effort between the U of A, McDonald Observatory at The University of Texas at Austin and [an international network of early-career and senior scientists](https://puffins-mission.github.io/team.html).