News

Press releases, media coverage, public announcements, and major milestones from the VENUS program.

  • 2026-01-07

    Press Conference at AAS 247: VENUS Opens a New Window on Cosmic Expansion

    Press Release

    The discovery of two exceptionally rare, strongly lensed supernovae — SN Ares and SN Athena — offers a breakthrough in cosmology. With multiple images appearing years to decades apart, these events provide a unique, long-baseline experiment to probe the expansion history of the Universe and address the long-standing "Hubble Tension."

    Press release article
  • 2026-01-05

    VENUS at AAS 247: Official 2026 Postcard Released

    Data Release / Product

    The official VENUS 2026 postcard, featuring the stunning gravitational lens system in the SPT2325 cluster, was officially released at the 247th AAS meeting. We are proud to share this visual milestone with the global astronomical community.

    AAS 247 Postcard image
  • 2025-11-19

    First VENUS Paper: "Misty Moons" – A Strongly Lensed Clumpy Galaxy at z>11

    Milestone
    Nakane2025

    Identified by the VENUS survey, "Misty Moons" is a typical faint galaxy at z~11-12 magnified by gravitational lensing. Its resolved internal structures reveal a highly clustered mode of early star formation, unlike anything seen in the local Universe.

    ADS Paper link
  • 2025-07-31

    ALMA Cycle 12 Awarded: Systematic 2-mm Survey to Complement VENUS Clusters

    Milestone
    ALMA Observatory

    Building on the success of the ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey (ALCS) in the 1-mm band, our new systematic 2-mm mapping program for VENUS clusters has been approved for ALMA Cycle 12 (Program ID: 2025.1.00360.S, PI: F. Sun). This survey will probe the cold gas and dust in the distant Universe, providing a crucial multi-wavelength complement to the VENUS program.

    ALCS Project Page ALMA Cycle 12 High Priority Projects
  • 2025-07-08

    Major Milestone: First Target Cluster Successfully Observed

    Milestone

    The massive galaxy cluster WHLJ013719-08284 has been successfully observed as the first target cluster for the VENUS project.

    Full resolution RGB image
  • 2025-03-11

    VENUS Program Selected as JWST Cycle 4 Large Treasury Program

    Milestone

    VENUS has been awarded 301.2 hours of observation time as a multi-epoch Large Treasury program (Program ID 6882). With allocations spanning Cycle 4 (252.2 hrs) and Cycle 5 (49.0 hrs), it stands as one of the largest JWST programs to date.

    Program Details