Recent News
Our new Pacific Indigenous Astrophysics UW Study Abroad program represents a fundamental shift in how we teach astronomy. Students will immerse themselves in the islands of Hawaiʻi, learning how Pacific Islanders have connected with the night sky for millennia. This program goes beyond traditional astronomy education - it acknowledges and celebrates different ways of knowing and… Read more
The CHOIR Collaboration, including UW members Drs. Arianna Long and Gourav Khullar, exemplifies a commitment to challenging conventional wisdom in astronomy. Their upcoming conference "New Data that Challenge Underlying Assumptions in Early Galaxy Evolution" has secured prestigious Heising-Simons funding and will bring leading researchers to Acadia National Park in Maine this summer. This gathering represents exactly the kind of bold,… Read more
The first photons have been collected by the Simonyi Telescope at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, marking a pivotal moment in observational astronomy. The initial 144 Mpix images demonstrate unprecedented detail, allowing us to peer deeper into our cosmic neighborhood than ever before. As we approach Data Preview 1 in July 2025, our department stands ready to leverage this revolutionary dataset to answer fundamental questions… Read more
Interviewed by Professor Jess Werk
In February, I connected with Bethlee Lindor, an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Astronomy, to spotlight her research and experiences. Born in Port-au-Prince, Haïti, and raised in the Northeast U.S., Bethlee now applies her mathematical talents to innovative approaches in planetary system detection and characterization. Working with Professor Eric Agol, she's developing analytical models that treat our solar… Read more
Interviewed by Professor Jess Werk
On a chilly February morning, I sat down with Dr. Arianna Long, one of the University of Washington's newest astronomy faculty members, over steaming cups of rooibos tea. Professor Long studies massive galaxies in the early universe, using cutting-edge telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope to peer back in time to when the universe was less than two billion years old. Her research has revealed that nearly half of all stellar mass in our local… Read more
The strength of UW Astronomy lies in our extended network of supporters, alumni, and friends who share our vision of mutual support in astronomical research and education. Our community building events, student support initiatives, and efforts to make astronomy more accessible require sustained commitment - both in energy and resources. As we face unprecedented challenges to scientific institutions, building robust networks of support becomes even more critical.
You can help ensure the… Read more
UW Planetarium
Exciting news! The UW Planetarium welcomes Ph.D student Oge Okoronkwo, who will be the incoming UW Planetarium director effective Summer 2025. We are beyond grateful for Ph.D. candidate Andy Tzanidakis’ remarkable legacy of leadership, which has expanded access to and programming for the Planetarium during his years-long tenure.
The UW Planetarium, in collaboration with Digital Arts & Experimental Media (DXArts), has been awarded by the UW STF for new projection… Read more
On April 15, 2025, our department was privileged to witness such a moment when the first on-sky engineering data from the Simonyi Telescope's LSSTCam was displayed. This milestone represents not just technological achievement, but the power of collaborative science at its finest. The optical alignments were remarkably close to optimal before even looking at the sky, and in just a handful of on-sky iterations, the system delivered a median image quality of about 1.8 arcsec FWHM across the focal… Read more
The Department of Astronomy is proud to highlight the below exceptional undergraduate researchers who exemplify the spirit of scientific discovery that defines our community. Their dedication and creativity will be on full display this Spring as many present their work at the prestigious UW Mary Gates Undergraduate Research Symposium. These students represent the bright future of astronomy, and we celebrate their remarkable achievements!
Giovanni Gollotti
Senior Giovanni Gollotti,… Read more
Interviewed by Professor Jess Werk
On a lovely Tuesday afternoon in March, I sat down with Tom Wagg over steaming cups of vanilla rooibos tea from Tea Republik. The British astrophysicist, currently completing his Ph.D. at UW, has quickly established himself as a rising star in the field of stellar evolution, particularly through his pioneering work on binary star systems and their complex interactions.
Tom’s research focuses on massive stars—rare cosmic giants that, despite their… Read more