Department of Astronomy

Public Nights at McCormick Observatory

Near-Field Cosmology at Virginia

Star Formation At Virginia

Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) at Virginia

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Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics at Virginia

Astrochemistry at Virginia

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Public Night at McCormick Observatory

Public Nights at McCormick Observatory

THIRD-YEAR UNDERGRAD RESEARCHER NAMED GOLDWATER SCHOLARS

Theo O’Neill wants to understand how stars are formed. They will now pursue their research as recently named a Goldwater Scholar. Goldwater Scholarships are awarded through a partnership between the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Defense Education Programs and the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Read more...

UVA Astronomers Will Map the Unmapped in Outer Space

Three University of Virginia astronomers research projects were selected for the first cycle of the James Webb Telescope’s General Observer programs. Assistant professor L. Ilsedore “Ilse” Cleeves and postdoctoral fellows Yao-Lun Yang and Jon Ramsey of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Astronomy were awarded telescope time for their three separate proposals. Read more...

Ilse Cleeves Named Cottrell Scholar

Ilse Cleeves, astronomy, University of Virginia, is among 24 outstanding teacher-scholars in chemistry, physics, and astronomy named recipients of Research Corporation for Science Advancement’s 2022 Cottrell Scholar Awards. Each award is $100,000.

Recipients are chosen through a rigorous peer-review process of applications from a wide variety of public and private research universities and primarily undergraduate institutions in the United States and Canada. Their award proposals incorporate both research and science education.

Professor John Hawley has passed away after a long fight with cancer

It is with incredible sadness that we announce the passing of Professor John Hawley after a long fight with cancer. In addition to being a brilliant scientist and dedicated advocate for the Astronomy Department and UVA as a whole, John was a valued mentor and colleague, and his sharp wit will be missed.

Galaxy Collisions Preview Milky Way's Fate

Professor Aaron Evans and co-author Lee Armus discuss what might happen when the Milky Way meets the Andromeda Galaxy in this month's Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/galaxy-collisions-preview-milky-ways-fate/

Image: Forecasted future: An illustration shows a possible view of the merging Milky Way–Andromeda system as seen from Pluto, which may get tossed to the galaxy's outskirts, along with the solar system. Credit: Ron Miller

Research Corporation Backs a Radical New Approach to Astronomical Imaging

A 12-megapixel digital camera can capture an image composed of roughly 12 million pieces of information and is all most of us need to take stunning vacation photos or family portraits suitable for framing. However, if you’re an astronomer taking detailed images of celestial bodies that are thousands to millions of light years away, it’s nowhere near good enough.

Nitya Kallivayalil invited to Awesome-Con

Nitya Kallivayalil was invited by NSF to sit on a Dark Matter/Dark Energy panel at Awesome-Con (https://awesome-con.com) this past weekend. Other panelists included Joe Pesce (moderator), Zohreh Davoudi, Carter Hall, Marc Kamionkowski and Charles Keeton.

Girls Exploring the Universe (GETU) 2021 Virtual Summer Camp

We are now accepting applications for the Online Girls Exploring the Universe (GETU) camp. This program offers an astronomy focused experience for middle school-aged kids primarily in Albemarle and nearby counties. We will be fully online this year, with activities spanning two weekends in mid August from 1-3pm EDT each day. Each camp day will offer a different set of activities and campers are free to join any or all days of the camp as their schedule allows.

Seed Funding for Stellar Populations Research in the Local Universe

The Owens Family Foundation has selected Nitya Kallivayalil as a recipient of their funding in the amount of $84,000 per year over a three year period. This gift will be used to further her research in near field cosmology and will enable the hiring of a prize postdoctoral fellow to work on resolved stellar populations in the local universe. The Owens Family Foundation has historically funded groundbreaking basic science research that is high risk high reward with a focus on methodological developments.

News & Announcements

THIRD-YEAR UNDERGRAD RESEARCHER NAMED GOLDWATER SCHOLARS

April 11, 2022

UVA Astronomers Will Map the Unmapped in Outer Space

April 7, 2022

Ilse Cleeves Named Cottrell Scholar

February 24, 2022

Ilse Cleeves, astronomy, University of Virginia, is among 24 outstanding teacher-scholars in chemistry, physics, and astronomy named recipients of Research Corporation for Science... Read»

More News»

Events

Tuesday, June 28th

Jose Miguel Bautista (Stony Brook)

Where: zoom

Start time: 12:05pm

End time: 1:00pm

Title: Color of Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies in the Coma Cluster

Abstract: We present an updated catalog of ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in the Coma cluster using g- and r- band images obtained with Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) of the Subaru telescope, and investigate their color distribution across the entire cluster. We detect UDGs down to an effective surface brightness of 29 mag/arcsec2 in a 2 deg-radius circular region around the cluster center, out to the virial radius of Coma. This increases the number of Coma UDGs found with Suprime-cam in Yagi et al. 2016 by a factor of 2. With this new catalog, in conjunction with testing of the photometric zero-point, we confirm the presence of a radial color-gradient around the cluster center reported previously in the Suprime-cam catalog by Alabi et al. 2020. Within the inner 1 Mpc, we find that the color distributions of UDGs are slightly, but systematically, redder than those of UDGs outside this region. On the other hand, these central UDGs have magnitude distributions similar to UDGs away from the center; hence this is not a color shift along the color-magnitude relation. The central UDGs are redder than the red sequence of Coma. We consider the possibility that shift to red colors traces a difference in quenching time of star formation, by comparing the new observations with a model of ram-pressure stripping in extended galaxies.

Friday, July 1st

McCormick Observatory Public Night

Start time: 9:00pm

End time: 11:00pm

Registration required.Visitors can view celestial objects through the historic 26-inch McCormick Refractor and other smaller telescopes (weather permitting), tour the Observatory, hear a presentation by an astronomer, and see the exhibits. All faculty, postdocs and graduate students participate through a rotating schedule.In order to limit overcrowding, registration is required on our Eventbrite website. Tickets remain FREE. You will be asked to provide your name, contact details, the number of visitors in your party, and the number of vehicles you will be parking. We are currently limiting the number of visitors to a total of 60 people and 30 cars per night, broken into two windows: 30 people and 15 cars from 9pm-10pm, and 30 people and 15 cars from 10pm-11pm. Registration is first come, first served. Once a public night is at capacity, you have the option to select other dates. If you have questions about the Eventbrite, please call our office during normal business hours. Access our Eventbrite here.

Tuesday, July 5th

Jay Lockman (GBO)

Where: CV Auditorium

Start time: 12:05pm

End time: 1:00pm

Title: Ethics in Astronomy

Abstract:
Astronomy has a code of ethics, many components of which are shared with
other professions. Discussion of ethics in astronomy most often occurs in
informal settings or as part of a student's mentorship. These avenues of
exchange have largely been closed off in the past two years, so it seems
worthwhile to use a TUNA lunch to bring each other up to date on current
issues in this area. I hope to learn quite a bit from the discussion.

TOPICS (of interest to me, in order of the complexity of the ethical issues):
1. Truth
2. Respect
3. Acknowledgement
4. Peer Review

To facilitate discussion of these potentially sensitive topics, I suggest
that participation be limited to those who can be present in person.

Tuesday, July 12th

Ellen Bouton

Where: CV Auditorium

Start time: 12:00pm

End time: 1:00pm

On Tuesday, July 12th at 12-noon in the auditorium Ellen Bouton will host a
special TUNA lunch presentation of a movie from the NRAO Archives. All
are welcome - this is a great way for new employees to learn something
about NRAO's history! Please note that this event will begin promptly at
NOON instead of the usual 12:05pm.

Released in 2012, the 52-minute public television documentary "Into
Deepest Space" reveals the motivations, struggles and ultimate triumphs of the people designing and building the most elaborate ground-based astronomical observatory ever, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The movie documents some of the first observations made by the telescope, foreshadowing the scientific rewards that will be its heritage. Filmed on three continents - and at altitudes ranging from sea level to 16,500 feet - the film features breathtaking views of Chile's
remote Atacama Desert, and demonstrates the lengths to which humans will go to understand the universe they call home.

Friday, July 15th

Education and Public Outreach Meeting

Start time: 12:00pm

End time: 1:00pm

McCormick Observatory Public Night

Start time: 9:00pm

End time: 11:00pm

Registration required.Visitors can view celestial objects through the historic 26-inch McCormick Refractor and other smaller telescopes (weather permitting), tour the Observatory, hear a presentation by an astronomer, and see the exhibits. All faculty, postdocs and graduate students participate through a rotating schedule.In order to limit overcrowding, registration is required on our Eventbrite website. Tickets remain FREE. You will be asked to provide your name, contact details, the number of visitors in your party, and the number of vehicles you will be parking. We are currently limiting the number of visitors to a total of 60 people and 30 cars per night, broken into two windows: 30 people and 15 cars from 9pm-10pm, and 30 people and 15 cars from 10pm-11pm. Registration is first come, first served. Once a public night is at capacity, you have the option to select other dates. If you have questions about the Eventbrite, please call our office during normal business hours. Access our Eventbrite here.

Tuesday, July 19th

Ellen Bouton

Where: CV Auditorium

Start time: 12:00pm

End time: 1:00pm

More Events»

GET IN TOUCH

Department of Astronomy
P.O. Box 400325
530 McCormick Road
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325
434-924-7494
434-924-3104
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Last modified: February 02 2022 04:33:07.
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