Mount Holyoke College Astronomy Department

05/09/2024

Nice article about Darby!

Space Kids Global is inspiring the next generation of space enthusiasts and scientists are preparing to study the hottest planet in our solar system.

10/03/2023

New paper co-authored by Darby!

Surface mineralogy records the primary composition, climate history and the geochemical cycling between the surface and atmosphere. We have not yet directly measured mineralogy on the Venus surface in situ, but a variety of independent investigations yield a basic understanding of surface compositio...

04/24/2023

Darby is introducing The Martian at the Amherst Cinema on 4/25!

The Martian Science on Screen 144 mins.Directed by Ridley ScottPG-132015 Click a time to buy tickets. Tue, 4/25 7:00 pm Professor Darby Dyar of Mt. Holyoke College joins us for an introduction as part of Science on Screen®, presenting creative pairings of current, classic, cult, and documentary f...

03/30/2023

Darby was quoted again!

"This stand down order is highly unusual, perhaps unprecedented."

03/23/2023

https://gizmodo.com/nasa-budget-soft-cancellation-veritas-venus-mission-1850245199

President Biden's 2024 budget request pulled a chunk of funding from NASA's VERITAS mission, save for $1.5 million to help sustain the science team.

10/20/2022

Observatory Open House this Friday!

Mount Holyoke College astronomy students welcome you to the oldest academic building on campus and to look through the school's various telescopes! Faculty and current astronomy majors will be there to give short tours and answer questions.

10/20/2022

Paper by a Mount Holyoke alum!
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022GL100815

07/15/2022

Darby was interviewed again!

Mount Holyoke College’s Darby Dyar explains the enduring mystery of Earth’s unusual moon.

06/03/2022

Another paper by a Mount Holyoke College Astronomy graduate!

The effect of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) on their host galaxies -- in particular their levels of star formation -- remains one of the key outstanding questions of galaxy evolution. Successful cosmological models of galaxy evolution require a fraction of energy released by an AGN to be redistribute...

05/06/2022

One of our graduates!

FROM NANTUCKET TO HAWAII

The MMA is thrilled to celebrate the news that our Post-Baccalaureate Astronomy Research Fellow, Celia Mulcahey, recently received an Honorable Mention in the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP). The NSF-GRFP “recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions.” The competition for these awards is fierce — each year approximately 12,000 students apply for the 2,000 awards.
 
Mulcahey first came to the MMA as a summer intern in 2019. “It was during my experience as an NSF-REU intern at the MMO where I first fell in love with how galaxies form and evolve, and developed essential research and communication skills,” said Mulcahey. After graduating summa cm laude from Mount Holyoke College with a B.A. in Astronomy and Geology, Mulcahey returned to the MMA in 2021 as the Post-Baccalaureate Astronomy Research Fellow. 

Her fellowship is sponsored by a special research grant from the National Science Foundation, which supports the MMA’s participation in the Fast and Fortunate for FRB Follow-up (F4) collaboration. The goal of the F4 collaboration is to perform optical follow-up of the host galaxies of the mysterious fast radio bursts, or FRBs, which are extremely bright and brief flashes of radio radiation, whose cause is not currently understood.

In addition to her research work, Mulcahey assists with the MMA’s programs, including Open Nights at the Loines Observatory, and providing the weekly Star Report podcast, this week’s episode of which is now live on Spotify and Apple. Over the past year, Mulcahey’s observations, in her developing body of work, have spanned from Nantucket to Hawai’i.

Tonight’s open night is canceled due to forecasted rain, but we’d like to thank the dozens of people — of all ages — who showed up last night to stargaze with us!

 
📷 by Celia Mulcahey
 

04/15/2022

Senior Symposium talks on April 22nd at 3:30 pm!

Presider: Jason Young Isabel McIntyre, Astronomy Hot Dust in Galaxies Three Billion Years Ago Jaya Nagarajan-Swenson, Astronomy Dark Matter in the Darkest Galaxies Lindsey Hands, Astronomy Metallicity Gradients in Low Surface Brightness Galaxies

01/10/2022

JGR: Planets wants to thank departing Associate Editor Caleb Fasset, who works at , for many years of amazing service to the journal. Caleb's contributions and dedication will be sorely missed. Thank you Caleb!