News

Pre-Registration Advising Hours 2020

The following astronomy faculty are offering major advising between now and August 13.  People’s preferred times to meet are listed–in all cases, you should send an email with a few suggested times (EDT) that would work for you.   Kevin Flaherty (Tuesday/Wednesday) Anne Jaskot… Continue reading »

Annular solar eclipse of June 21

Because of COVID-19 lockdowns unable to travel into the zone of annularity, where a 0.3% annulus of everyday sun remained around the lunar silhouette at maximum, Prof. Pasachoff monitored the eclipse progress from Williamstown on the Web.  He had made suggestions to several observers in Oman and India for observing… Continue reading »

Statement in support of Black students, friends and colleagues

In line with messages from Williams College President Maud Mandel, American Astronomical Society President Megan Donahue, the American Physical Society, and many others, we stand in support of our black students, friends, and colleagues in these challenging times. Prof Jay Pasachoff, Prof Anne Jaskot, Dr. Kevin Flaherty   Protests, Justice,… Continue reading »

Eclipse Results at Astronomical Meeting

https://aas236-aas.ipostersessions.com/default.aspx?s=66-DC-E4-9E-8D-00-37-6C-AA-C5-FF-19-4B-CE-9B-7E&guestview=true Three seniors + two alumni joined Prof. Pasachoff in presenting an iPoster+ about results rom the June 2, 2019, total solar eclipse in Chile.  Christian Lockwood ’20, Erin Meadors ’20, John Inoue ’20, Dan Seaton ’01, Kevin Reardon ’92, and Jay Pasachoff participated in the research and exposition… Continue reading »

Rooftop Observatory observes supernova in M61

M61, a galaxy about 50 million light years away, is one of our favorite targets at Williams, and we were excited to recently learn of a new supernova in this galaxy! This explosion of a dying star is visible in the images below, comparing an image taken by Nicole Ford… Continue reading »

Christian Lockwood ’20: Milham Prize in Astronomy

Christian Lockwood ’20 is receiving the 2020 Milham Prize in Astronomy, in recognition of an outstanding combination of hgh grades, research activity, and contributions to the Astronomy Department community.  The Prize is in memory of Willis Milham, professor of astronomy from 1901 to 1942 and the third director of the Hopkins Observatory. Continue reading »

Graduation Caps and Gowns 2020

Connor Marti, Nicole Ford, Christian Lockwood, and Johnny Inoue are all receiving high honors at graduation with the photographs taken during the last days that they were on campus this spring.  Allen Wang is getting honors in math on a joint thesis between math and astronomy. Prof. Pasachoff with… Continue reading »

Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Award Student Prize

Nicole Ford ’20 is one of 15 student medalists (out of 355 entrants) for the Chambliss student poster award from the last AAS meeting (Honolulu, January 2020).  Her poster is about “Understanding the Epoch of Reionization: Examining Proposed Indicators of Ionizing Radiation Escape in Nearby Star-forming Galaxies”; her advisor… Continue reading »