Astronomy

Foss Hill is the place for gatherings. Commencement, Spring Fling, baseball games, the first snow fall. They are all occasions for people to grace the grass. Some do it in the spirit of achievement and others in the name of pure, good ‘ole fashioned fun. On April 8, hundreds of Wesleyan students, faculty, staff, and local community members came together on the University green for a different reason—wonder—as a partial solar eclipse passed above them. The Astronomy Department hosted an eclipse viewing on Foss Hill and in the Van Vleck Observatory in partnership with the Russell Library. Organizers passed out…

Professor of Astronomy Seth Redfield was one of several collaborators who recently published the discovery of a six-planet system around a nearby bright star within the Milky Way Galaxy, according to a paper in Nature. Not only are the planets within our galaxy, but they are in perfect resonance, a rare and potentially highly important discovery for humanity’s understanding of planet formation, Redfield said. A planetary system in resonance means that the orbital periods—how long it takes a planet to complete a single orbit around its star—are in ratio with one another. Redfield said that in this case all six…

Each year at Commencement, Wesleyan University recognizes three outstanding faculty members with the awarding of the Binswanger Prizes for Excellence in Teaching. The University announces that this year’s recipients are Matthew Garrett, associate professor of English; A. Meredith Hughes, associate professor of astronomy; and Tushar Irani, associate professor of philosophy and Letters. Underscoring Wesleyan’s commitment to its scholar-teachers, these annual prizes are made possible by gifts from the family of the late Frank G. Binswanger Sr., Hon’85. Recipients are chosen each spring by a committee composed of faculty and members of the Alumni Association Executive Committee based upon strong recommendations…

Five Wesleyan University faculty and students were announced as recipients of grants from the NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium. “I would say that these awards are a wonderful example of the broad range of research areas and activities that occur at Wesleyan. We are lucky to have such exciting research, active faculty, and motivated students, and Wesleyan always does very well. I am grateful that these NASA CT Space Grant funds enable wonderful activities here at Wesleyan,” said Seth Redfield, professor of astronomy. Candice Etson, assistant professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, received a Faculty STEM Education Research Grant for her…

With pride in their accomplishments and hopes for a bright future, fifteen students celebrated their initiation into the Connecticut Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at a ceremony held on December 7 in the McKelvey Room at the Office of Admission. In order to be inducted into the nation’s oldest scholastic honor society, students must be nominated by the department of their major, have completed their general education expectations, and must have a grade point average of 93 or above. “For students elected in the fall, it is an especially exacting selection process because admittance is based on a student’s…

For only the seventh time since Wesleyan’s founding, the planet Mercury passed directly in front of the sun, from the perspective of Earth—and Wesleyan served as a gathering place from which to learn about and observe the event. Faculty and students from Wesleyan’s astronomy department, as well as others from the University and the greater Middletown community, gathered outside the Van Vleck Observatory on Nov. 11 to witness the transit through three telescopes. The mild weather and partly cloudy conditions—particularly at the beginning and end of the transit (which lasted from 7:35 a.m. to 1:04 p.m.)—made for good viewings through…

In recognition of his exemplary research at Wesleyan, astronomy major Girish Duvvuri ’17 has been awarded a Chambliss medal from the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Duvvuri, who majored in astronomy, physics, and English, received the award during the 232nd AAS Meeting June 3–7 in Denver, Colo. There, he presented a study that formed much of his senior thesis at Wesleyan. Seth Redfield, associate professor and chair of astronomy, associate professor of integrative sciences, and co-coordinator of planetary science, served as Duvvuri's advisor. To be eligible for an award, work featured on a poster must have been done within the past year and while the presenter was an…

Three undergraduates and one graduate student received NASA Connecticut Space Grant Awards from the NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium (CTSGC). The CTSGC is a federally mandated grant, internship, and scholarship program that aims to inspire the pursuit of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Astronomy and math major Nicole Zalewski '20 received a $5,000 undergraduate research fellowship to pursue her study on “Measurement of the Radar Properties of the Oldest Rocks on Venus to Constrain Mineralogy." Her advisor is Martha Gilmore, the George I. Seney Professor of Geology, professor of earth and environmental sciences, co-coordinator of planetary science, and…

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Faculty, graduate students, and alumni attended the 49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference March 19–23 in The Woodlands, Texas. Three graduate students were awarded funds from the NASA Connecticut Space Grant that allowed them to travel to this meeting. Earth and environmental sciences graduate student Reid Perkins presented a research poster titled "Where Are the Missing Tessera Craters on Venus?" Perkins's advisor is Martha Gilmore, the George I. Seney Professor of Geology, professor of earth and environmental sciences. Earth and environmental sciences graduate student Melissa Luna presented a poster titled "Multivariate Spectral Analysis of CRISM Data to Characterize the Composition of Mawrth…

Writing in The Conversation, Roy Kilgard, research associate professor of astronomy, explains the significance of an exciting new discovery in astronomy. For the first time, astrophysicists have observed merging neutron stars using LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) and the Virgo interferometer. Kilgard writes: This news may confirm a longstanding theory: that some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs for short), which are among the most energetic, luminous events in the universe, are the result of merging neutron stars. And it is in the crucible of these mergers that most heavy elements may be forged. Researchers can’t produce anything like the temperatures or pressures of…

A team of scientists from Wesleyan, led by Associate Professor of Astronomy Seth Redfield and graduate student Prajwal Niraula MA '18, has co-authored a paper on the discovery of three planets, or super-Earths, transiting around a nearby star, just 98 light-years away. “Super-Earths are slightly larger than Earth, and the three of them straddle the divide between the rocky planets like Earth and ice giants like Neptune,” explains Redfield. These planets were found using the Kepler Space Telescope. “Kepler has found thousands of exoplanets these last eight years, but this is the closest planetary system that Kepler has ever found, although closer planetary systems have been…

Gallery: Wesleyan, Local Communities Flock to Foss Hill for Eclipse

Wesleyan Professor Collaborates on Discovery of Six Planets

2023 Binswanger Prizes for Excellence in Teaching Announced

Students and Faculty Receive NASA Connecticut Space Consortium Grants

New Phi Beta Kappa Inductees Named

Students, Faculty, Community Observe Rare Complete Transit of Mercury

Duvvuri ’17 Awarded Chambliss Award for Astronomy Research

Students Receive Research Awards from NASA

Star, Planet Formation Expert Delivers Sturm Lecture

Alumni, Faculty, Graduate Students Make Presentations at Planetary Science Conference

Kilgard Explains Why Scientists Are So Excited About Observing Merging Neutron Stars

Niraula MA ’18, Redfield Lead Team in Discovery of 3 Super-Earths