News and Events
UMass Amherst Professor Daniel Wang reveals exciting new research; Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, Professor Wang documented X-ray thread G0.17-0.41, which hints at a previously unknown interstellar mechanism that may govern the energy flow and potentially the evolution of the Milky Way. Wang's findings give the clearest available picture of a pair of X-ray-emitting plumes emerging from the region near the massive black hole at the center of our galaxy.
NASA announced the new cohort of 24 Fellows for the prestigious NASA Hubble Fellowship Program, an extremely competitive program that supports postdoctoral scientists in pursuing independent astrophysics research. UMass Astronomy is excited to welcome Sinclaire Manning as a Hubble Fellow into our department in the fall, working with Prof. Kate Whitaker. Sinclaire's research focuses on studying the enigmatic population
of dusty star-forming galaxies in the early Universe.
More Info: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/nasa-awards-postdoctoral-fellowships-for-2021
"The Goldwater Scholarship Program, one of the oldest and most prestigious national scholarships in the natural sciences, engineering,and mathematics in the United States, seeks to identify and support college sophomores and juniorswho show exceptional promise of becoming this Nation’s next generation of research leaders in these fields."
Profs. Gopal Narayanan and Pete Schloerb are among the authors of a new publication by the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration on the supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy M87. This new paper shows, for the first time, the signatures of the magnetic field surrounding the black hole. These observations help illuminate how black holes launch powerful, galactic-scale jets.
View the press release and Zoom link here!
Join UMass Astronomers for a live broadcast from the Sunwheel on Saturday, March 20, the first day of Spring! The webinar-format broadcasts will begin at 7 a.m. for sunrise and 6:30 p.m. for sunset, and will be streamed live from the center of the Sunwheel.
The UMass Sunwheel is a solar calendar made up of a stone circle, like England’s famous Stonehenge. Also like Stonehenge, the Sunwheel’s standing stones mark the location of the rising and setting sun during equinoxes and solstices. This unique calendar circle was designed by the late UMass professor of astronomy Judith Young, and has hosted public events celebrating the change of seasons since 1997
During the presentations Stephen Schneider will explain the changing positions of the sun, moon and Earth, and how the standing stones of the Sunwheel act as a calendar to mark the start of each season. He and other UMass astronomers at the webinar will be available to answer questions about the Sunwheel as well as questions about astronomy.
This 3-week summer program is taught by Astronomy Graduate Student Sarah Betti, assisted by other graduate students.
https://www.umass.edu/uww/programs/pre-college/summer/modern-astronomy
