Department of Astronomy

John Hawley, Hamilton and VITA Professor of Astronomy and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, was recently named as a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society.   John was cited “For pioneering work in computational astrophysics and its application to studies of accretion disks and jets.” More information here: https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/aas-fellows

By monitoring the cosmos with a radio telescope array, an international team of scientists has detected radio bursts emanating from the constellation Boötes –  that could be the first radio emission collected from a planet beyond our solar system.

Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, in 2012 the Jefferson Scholars Foundation began recognizing University faculty who have demonstrated both excellence in teaching and exceeding care for their students. This award honors those teachers in our community who have gone the extra mile in fulfilling their vocation without regard for their own advancement. This year, Mark Whittle was nominated and has been designated as a 2020 recipient. Professor Whittle has been in the Astronomy department since 1986 and his research interests include active galaxies and cosmology.

During the virtual Astronomy Department Diploma ceremony on 17 May, the winners of the Lawrence W. Fredrick award of the Astronomy department and the winners of three undergraduate Astronomy awards were announced.