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Five College Astronomy Department Summer 2026 Research Internships
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An International Team of Astronomers Led by UMass Amherst May Have Just Found One of the Missing Links in Galaxy Evolution
A team of 48 astronomers from 14 countries, led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has discovered a population of dusty, star-forming galaxies at the far edges of the universe that formed only a billion years after the Big Bang, believed to have occurred 13.7 billion years ago.
UMass Astronomers Find one of the Oldest Barred-Spiral Galaxies in the Universe
Research led by alumnus Daniel Ivanov, along with Professor of Astronomy Mauro Giavalisco and fellow alumni Yingjie Cheng and John Weaver, helps constrain the timeframe in which bars, a sometimes-striking visual feature that can play an important role in the evolution of a galaxy, could have first emerged in the universe.
UMass AMHERST Astronomer Leads Science Team Helping To Develop Billion-dollar NASA Satellite Mission Concept
A University of Massachusetts astronomy professor is science lead on a $5 million proposal selected by NASA to develop new space satellite missions that bridge gaps in our understanding of the evolution of the universe.
Alexandra Pope of UMass Amherst is on one of two teams chosen by NASA to conduct 12-month mission concepts to observe X-ray and far-infrared wavelengths of light from space. Pope’s team is developing PRIMA, the Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics. After detailed evaluation of each $5 million study, NASA expects to select one concept in 2026 to proceed with the $1 billion construction, with launch projected to happen in 2032.