Van Vleck Observatory

Congratulations to Prof. Meredith Hughes on her promotion!

A. Meredith Hughes, Professor of Astronomy Professor Hughes is a radio astronomer whose research focuses on planet formation. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), she investigates circumstellar disks around young stars—collections of dust and gas that form planetesimals and eventually planets. Her research has provided fundamental insights into the structure and evolution of planet-forming disks, as well as the surprising persistence of gas in debris disks and its role in planet formation. Professor Hughes, who received the Binswanger Prize for Teaching Excellence in 2023, teaches Introductory Astrophysics, Exploring the Cosmos, Radio Astronomy, Observational Astronomy, Astronomical Pedagogy, and Planetary Science.

It's a little rainy, but they're still going to shine! Congratulations to our amazing Astronomy class of 2026! We are so proud of you and miss you already.

Happy Reunion + Commencement Weekend! Friday, May 22nd, the Astronomy Department will be hosting public observing from 9:30-11pm at Van Vleck Observatory. We will also be hosting a reception after Commencement on Sunday, May 24th for our majors, alumni, family, friends, and faculty.

SAVE THE DATE!

Hello from your friendly neighborhood astronomers! Our public programs have ended for this academic year and we can't wait to see you all in September!

If you’d like to join the astronomy email list to get notified about events when we start back up in the fall, you can email [email protected] with the subject line “subscribe-astro-events” to join our newsletter.

There's more info about observatory events and how to find us on our web page: https://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/departments/astronomy/

Thank you to Jillian Epstein (Astronomy MA Student) for the amazing drawing!

Please join me in congratulating Cat, Dylan, and Aliya as this year’s recipients of the Littell Prize award. The Littell Prize is given in recognition of excellence in one or more advanced courses in Astronomy.

Please join us for our last colloquium of the 2025-2026 academic year on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. Our guest next week will be Dr. Nicholas Saunders joining us from Yale University. Dr. Saunders is a Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (YCAA) Prize Doctoral Fellow whose research interest is understanding the full lifetime of exoplanets. His lecture, “The Fate of Planets Orbiting Evolved Stars”, will begin promptly at 4:30pm in Van Vleck Observatory.

And...we are back!

Hello from your friendly neighborhood astronomers! If you’re looking for some space-related enrichment opportunities, outreach activities are starting back up at Wesleyan’s Van Vleck Observatory this week! All our events are free and open to the public.

On the first Friday of May we have Kids’ Night from 8-9pm! You can sign up through Middletown Parks and Rec (you don't need to be a resident).
(https://middletownct.myrec.com/.../program_details.aspx...)

On Wednesdays from 8-9pm (every week that Wesleyan is in session) we host Space Night: a 20-minute presentation on a space-related topic, followed by observing through the telescopes if it’s clear. Aimed at high school ages and above, but open to anyone (we've had great experiences with middle-school-age homeschoolers in the past). The weather is looking great for this week, so the big telescope will be open! No registration required.

We hope you can join us for these exciting upcoming events! If you’d like to join the astronomy email list, you can email [email protected] with the subject line “subscribe-astro-events” to join our newsletter. There's more info about observatory events and how to find us on our web page: https://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/departments/astronomy/observatory/observatory-events.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawRDlvJleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFzR3JIWlB0dXVqV0JLdkpOc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvdQTN6-1kTxBESOC0BnefWSQQoXvctzLIlGlfLxaHurj4TK6e_Ft5CnNtP1_aem_uZyMXbcmYgy6zvLRTSEjCg

We are back from Spring Break and are excited to have Dr. Catrina Hamilton-Drager, a Wesleyan alumnus, back on campus to give her talk “KH 15D and its Next Era: What 75 Years of Observations Tell Us” this Wednesday, March 25th. Dr. Hamilton-Drager's research focuses mainly on young stars in the process of forming. Probably best known for her pioneering work on the young stellar system known as KH 15D, she has examined the rotation rates of stars in clusters of different ages to trace the evolution of angular momentum. Dr. Hamilton-Drager received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and M.S. from Arizona State University before receiving her Ph.D. from Wesleyan University, working with our very own Dr. Bill Herbst.