Department of Astronomy at UMass Amherst

M87’s Black Hole
UMass Amherst researchers are part of team that captured the first-ever image of a black hole
Department News
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Patrick Kamieneski is awarded the best dissertation award given by the AUI and NRAO.
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How to Break the Universe and other Adventures in UMass Astronomy
A team of astronomers, including assistant professor Kate Whitaker, recently published research in the journal Nature that many popular publications have said “breaks the universe.” While not literally true, the team, which used the newest trove of data retrieved from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), discovered that very old, very massive galaxies seem to exist on the fringes of the universe—which, according to current astronomical theory, shouldn’t be possible. Click the link to see more of the article. -
Years after UMass professor’s death, her tribute to the sun and stars lives on
Decades ago, Andy Morris-Friedman didn’t imagine that the odd collection of stones he stumbled upon during a bike ride would lead to involvement in a community for more than 25 years — and that he’d be one of the ones keeping it alive after the woman who built it died. Astronomy-lovers have been gathering since the mid-1990s each solstice and equinox — the days the seasons change — at the UMass Sunwheel, a group of stones that mark the angles of sunrises, moonrises and other celestial events. Click the link to the article to read more. -
Prof. Kate Whitaker awarded the NSF CAREER grant
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UMass Astronomy Dept Helps NASA's James Webb Telescope
Congratulations to Dr. Katherine Whitaker. UMass Press Release: https://www.umass.edu/news/article/help-umass-amherst-nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-uncovers-new-details-pandoras WWLP Channel 22 News Article: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope unveils new details of Pandora's Cluster (wwlp.com) CBS Boston Article: https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/pandoras-cluster-james-webb-telescope-umass-amherst/ Yahoo Article: UMass astronomers help NASA capture pictures of "Pandora's Cluster" (yahoo.com) Boston Globe Article: New image from Webb Telescope, processed by UMass astronomers, reveals the deepest parts of space in Pandora’s Cluster - The Boston Globe -
Congratulations to Dr. Linden, awarded the Strittmatter Fellowship.
Many congratulations to Dr. Sean Linden, who has been awarded the Strittmatter Postdoctoral Fellowship of the University of Arizona. Dr. Linden, currently a postdoctoral associate in Astronomy at the University of Massachusetts, will join the University of Arizona in the Fall of 2023. The Peter A. Strittmatter Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Advanced Study in Astronomy & Astrophysics is a prize fellowship created in 2016 in honor of Peter A. Strittmatter, who directed Steward Observatory for 37 years, starting in 1975. More information can be found at: https://www.as.arizona.edu/strittmatter-postdoctoral-fellowship
Kate Whitaker and Team Investigate Oldest Galaxies
Whitaker’s team devised an innovative pairing of telescopes to better understand why some of the oldest, most massive galaxies go quiescent early in their formation. The team used the Hubble Space Telescope, which sees ultraviolet to near-infrared light, including the light we can see with our own eyes, to detect these distant galaxies, which are so far away that we’re only just now seeing the light they emitted 10 billion to 12 billion years ago, when the universe was in its infancy. In effect, Whitaker’s team is looking into the deep past.

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