University of Virginia, College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Galaxy Stars

Star Formation At Virginia

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Apogee

Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) at Virginia

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Apogee Hardware

Instrumentation Laboratory at Virginia

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Planet

Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics at Virginia

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Galaxy Stars

Astrochemistry at Virginia

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UVA Astronomy Team

World Class Facilities at Virginia

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Pluto

Planetary Science at Virginia

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Ilse Cleeves Awarded a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering

Astronomy Professor Ilse Cleeves was awarded a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering to support her research on astrochemistry and the formation of planets.  The award was announced by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation on Tuesday, October 15.  These Fellowships are among the most prestigious and selective in American science.  Previous Fellows include scientists who went on to be awarded Nobel Prizes in Chemistry and Physics, the Fields Medal in Mathematics, the Alan T.

Graduate Student Thankful Cromartie Leads a Nature Astronomy Paper

UVa Astronomy graduate student Thankful Cromartie led a paper published in Nature Astronomy detailing the discovery of the most massive neutron star ever observed. This work was conducted along with her advisor Scott Ransom (of UVa and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory) and the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) collaboration. The team used pulsar timing — accounting for every rotation of dense, rapidly rotating stellar remnants — to measure the mass of J0740+6620, a 2.89-ms pulsar with a binary white dwarf companion.

A New View of the Moon

A group of astronomers, including Craig Sarazin from U.Va., have made the first high-resolution, high-frequency radio map of the Moon.  The image, at a radio frequency of 90 GHz, was made with the MUSTANG2 camera on the Green Bank Telescope, the world’s largest steerable telescope.  At this radio frequency, the image shows heat radiation form the lunar surface, and brighter regions are hotter.   The image shows many of the same features as seen in more familiar optical images.  However, because temperature variations across the lunar surface are smaller than the variations

Nitya Kallivayalil Wins PECASE Award

Nitya Kallivayalil, an associate professor in Astronomy, has been award a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). This is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers and show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology.  Nitya was nominated by the National Science Foundation.  The award was announced in a press release from the White House. The press release can be found here:

"Chasing the Moon" Screening & Panel Discussion

Friday | July 12 | 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. | FREE
Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11's moon landing at Light House Studio/Vinegar Hill Theatre. Enjoy a special screening from the new PBS American Experience series,Chasing the Moon, followed by a panel discussion with distinguished experts that represent the past, present and future of space research and exploration. This event is free, but registration is required.
 

Timothy P. McCullough, Jr. Scholarship in Astronomy

The Astronomy Department is pleased to announce the creation of the Timothy P. McCullough, Jr. Scholarship in Astronomy, named for Dr. McCullough (1910-2004), who was a research physicist and radio astronomer at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. Dr. McCullough made some of the first radio measurements of many objects in the Solar System. His radio measurements of Venus were among the first to indicate that Venus had a very high surface temperature. He also studied Mars and Jupiter. Later, his interest turned to supernovas, galaxies, and solar flares. Dr.

Spinning black hole has rapidly pivoting jets

Astronomers, including Craig Sarazin from U.Va., have discovered jets shooting out at nearly the speed of light from the regions around a black hole, and which are changing their direction rapidly (minutes to hours).  This reorientation of the jets is due to the Lense-Thirring Precession, an effect predicted by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity.  This effect is expected to occur near a rotating black hole, and is caused by the rotating black hole dragging space and time around with it as it rotates.  This is believed to be the first direct observation of the Lense-Thirring Precession

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News & Announcements

Ilse Cleeves Awarded a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering

October 15, 2019

Astronomy Professor Ilse Cleeves was awarded a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering to support her research on astrochemistry and the formation of planets.  The award was announced by... Read»

Graduate Student Thankful Cromartie Leads a Nature Astronomy Paper

September 23, 2019

UVa Astronomy graduate student Thankful Cromartie led a paper published in Nature Astronomy detailing the discovery of the most massive neutron star ever observed. This work was conducted along... Read»

A New View of the Moon

September 10, 2019

A group of astronomers, including Craig Sarazin from U.Va., have made the first high-resolution, high-frequency radio map of the Moon.  The image, at a radio frequency of 90 GHz... Read»

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