Graduate student Frankie Encalada and Professor Leslie Looney are part of the international team that imaged the circumstellar disks around 19 very young protostars, revealing the beginning of planet formation, and disks that are different and less settled than the older disk systems....
Astronomy at IllinoisWhy study Astronomy?
Featured StarALPHECCA or GEMMA (α Coronae Borealis)
Grad student Yu-Ching Chen discovers rare dual quasar at cosmic noonA team led by Illinois astronomers Yu-Ching Chen, Prof. Xin Liu and Prof. Yue Shen discovered a rare dual quasar system when the Universe was only 3 billion years old. Their findings are reported in the April 5 issue of Nature. Read more here.
Prof. James B. Kaler 1938-2022Illinois Astronomy is sad to announce the passing of Prof. Emeritus Jim Kaler.
Illinois astronomers help capture first image of Milky Way's black holeCongratulations to Prof. Gammie and his team as part of the international collaboration that just released the first image of the accretion disk surrounding the supermassive Black Hole at the center of our Galaxy. It's a great achievement. Read about it here
100 Gifts for 100 YearsHelp celebrate our centennial by reaching for the stars. In celebration of the department’s centennial, we’re asking for your help to replenish the department’s annual fund. Our goal is 100 gifts for 100 years.
Triple congratulations to Prof. Yue Shen. Not only has he been approved by campus to be promoted to Full Professor, but he has won the 2023 Campus Distinguished Promotion Award and he has been appointed a 2023 LAS Dean's Distinguished Professor Scholar.
Undergrad Lilly Kettler, grad student Kedar Phadke, and Prof. Joaquin Vieira are part of a team that detected organic molecules in the furthest galaxy to date. Read about it here.
More Department News
- Congratulations to the Astronomy Class of 2023! May 2023: Anya Abraham, Rithika Baskar, Simon Boyle, Qifeng Cheng, Philip Coady. Itay Gozalzani, Zhongxing Hu, Kitetsu Kaku, Ilia Kiato, Aaron Koller, Tanushree Kumar, Caleb Lair, Jay Mahajan, Lily Mrazek, Alexander Newman, Yunsuk Oh, Michael...
- Congratulations to Prof. Xin Liu for being named a Norman P. Jones Professorial Scholar! This is a college award based upon her outstanding contribution to the college’s educational mission including research, teaching, service, and diversity and inclusion.
- Congratulations to Prof. Gautham Narayan for being awarded the Lincoln Excellence for Assistant Professors (LEAP) Award! This is a college award based upon his outstanding contribution to the college’s educational mission including research, teaching, citizenship, and diversity and inclusion.
Calendar
Astronomy Picture of the Day
ASTR 100Learn the basic concepts of modern astronomy, from the Solar System to the Big Bang.
ASTR 210Survey of modern astronomy for students with background in physics.
ASTR 350Studies the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe, and the scientific tools used to study these issues.
