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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Guests observe winter solstice sunset at the UMass Amherst Sunwheel
Dr. Stephen Schneider, an astronomy professor at UMass Amherst, shows observers the astronomical cause of the solstice at the Sunwheel late Wednesday afternoon, December 21, 2022. -
Congratulations to the Colloquium Organizers
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2022 Emmons Award Presented to George Greenstein 11/19/22
Last evening, at the 125th Awards Ceremony of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Derrick Pitts of the Franklin Institute (and Vice-president of the ASP) presented the 2022 Richard Emmons Award to George Greenstein of Amherst College. The Emmons Award recognizes a lifetime of contributions to the teaching of Astro 101 courses at the college level. -
Sierra Gomez, Lillian Jiang & Julio Morales win the AAS Chablis Student Award
The latest Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Awards poster competition was a success, and we at AAS are excited to announce the winners of the competition! The following winners presented their posters at our 240th AAS meeting in Pasadena, California, in June 2022. The competition is only possible because of the hard work of our many judges, so if you haven't signed up to judge student posters in the past (or in a while), I encourage you to do so in the future. Your next opportunity will be at the 241st AAS meeting in Seattle, Washington, in January 2023.
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Dr. F. Peter Schloerb Receives the Chancellor's Medal
Professor in the Department of Astronomy, College of Natural Sciences Thursday, March 23, 2023, 4:00 p.m. Great Hall, Old Chapel UMass and the Large Millimeter Telescope In 2019, the first image ever made of a black hole triggered international excitement. The stunning image brought enormous attention to the University of Massachusetts, which played a key part in the global collaboration that captured the image. -
Astronomy / Physics Computer Systems Administrator
The Astronomy Department is looking for a Computer Systems Administrator. If you are interested, please see the following link:
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.

Upcoming Events
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Feb6
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Feb16
Lyman break analogues: local laboratories for galaxy formation and evolution under extreme conditions
Thiago Goncalves3:45 p.m.Colloquia -
Feb23
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