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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Dr. F. Peter Schloerb is a part of the Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series
Dr. F. Peter Schloerb delivered a speech for the Distinguished Faculty Lecture on March 23, 2023 at 4:00 pm in the Old Chapel at UMass Amherst. Please see the links below to read more about this event. Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series UMass News Page -
Congratulations to Tim McQuaid, 2022-2023 Umass Amherst Rising Researcher.
Honor Senior student Timothy McQuaid has been selected as a 2022-2023 UMass Amherst Rising Researcher. The award recognizes exceptional accomplishments of UMass Amherst undergraduate students who excel in research, scholarship, and creative activity. -
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
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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