Wellesley Physics and Astronomy Department

05/18/2026

Congrats to our 2026 graduates from your PHAS faculty!

05/05/2026

https://www.wellesley.edu/news/a-place-to-contemplate-the-universe

For 125 years, Whitin Observatory has given Wellesley students a view like no other

05/04/2026

Congratulations to Professor Yue Hu on her retirement after 35 years at Wellesley! That's a lot of young minds trained in the study of physics.

We are grateful for your many years of guiding our students and for your leadership in the inaugural year of our (re)merged department.

YUE'S FORMER STUDENTS: do you have pictures and/or messages that we can share at her party? If so send them by 5/10/2026 to physicsastronomy -at - wellesley.edu

04/23/2026

Please join us this Friday evening, April 24th, for our last public night of the semester at Whitin Observatory! The subject of this event will be "Starlight Through Time" and will run from 8:30pm to 10:30pm. Observing opportunities with our telescopes will be available if the skies are clear!

The event is free and open to the public, no registration required; see https://www.wellesley.edu/whitin-observatory for parking info.

04/17/2026

03/26/2026

Please join our astronomy students tomorrow, Friday, March 26th, for our public night at Whitin Observatory!
Our topic will be "The Chemistry of the Cosmos" and we'll explore Astrochemistry, endogenous synthesis, and building bridges between astronomy and chemistry! The event will run from 8pm to 10pm, and observing with our historic telescopes will happen if the skies are clear.
The event is free and open to the public, no registration required; see https://www.wellesley.edu/whitin-observatory for parking info.

03/13/2026

Enjoy this Wellesley Magazine article, "Eyes on the Sky," a feature of assistant professor of astronomy Lamiya Mowla '13 and how she brings the cosmos to campus!

“Because I grew up in Dhaka, in Bangladesh, right in the middle of the smoggy, light-polluted city, I do not remember seeing any star,” says Lamiya Mowla…

02/01/2026

Our first public night of the season, celebrating Valentine's Day! On February 6th, 7-9 pm, stop by the Whitin Observatory to learn about Newton's 3rd Law of Attraction and see demonstrations on the mechanics of gravity. The event is free, no registration required. For more information about the observatory and parking instructions go to https://www.wellesley.edu/whitin-observatory

01/15/2026

Check out this very cool work by Andrea Dupree, Wellesley class of 1960!

Astronomers have detected a moving wake of gas in the outer layers of Betelgeuse, offering fresh evidence for a long-suspected companion star.

12/03/2025

Come join our astronomy students for their final public Observatory night of 2025 this Friday Dec 5 from 7-9pm.

You will learn about.....a gravitationally lensed quasar..a quasar with relativistic jets..a star cluster that is ____ years old (come to find the answer!)..how gravity lets us weigh a planet without even going there..how spaceship Earth creates a baseline for measuring asteroid distances..how spiral galaxies are structured..how a student helped NASA to discover an exoplanet..and how a gamble paid off to create a nice view of Saturn

As always -- free and open to the public, rain or shine, see our website for parking info. BUNDLE UP for the walk up the hill! https://www.wellesley.edu/whitin-observatory

10/07/2025

Liquid nitrogen ice cream is yummy when stirred up by faculty members. L-R: Olivia Miller, Zach Addison, Sami Lewis.

It's fitting Sami is handling the LN2 tank -- she knows her way around the lab!

Zach on the other hand might be more excited about sharing today's Nobel news with his quantum mechanics class...https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2025/press-release/