News | Astronomy at Illinois

Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Moon Landing with Illinois Astronomers

07/16/2019 - Fifty years ago this month, human beings first walked on another world. Join Illinois Astronomers to celebrate this achievement.

Congratulations to the Astronomy Class of 2019

05/17/2019 - Congratulations to the Astronomy Class of 2019! Best wishes on your future endeavors--you make us proud!

Prof. Xin Liu wins prestigious Arnold O. Beckman Research Award

05/01/2019 - Congratulations to Prof. Xin Liu for being awarded the prestigious Arnold O.

Astronomy Awards Announced

04/25/2019 - The 2019 Astronomy Awards have been announced:

This ring-like structure with a dark central region shows the shadow of the event horizon of the supermassive black hole in galaxy M87.

Astronomers Capture First Image of a Black Hole

04/10/2019 - The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration — was designed to capture images of a black hole.

Professor Charles Gammie, center, and graduate students Ben Prather, left, and Charles Wong, right.

How is Illinois contributing to the Event Horizon Telescope Project?

04/10/2019 - The Event Horizon Telescope Project announced that it has captured the first image of a black hole.

Prof. Tony Wong Teaches Telescopes to the Next Generation

03/26/2019 - Prof. Tony Wong spent some time recently at the Next Generation School teaching the STEAM students about telescopes.

Excellent Teachers Fall 2018

03/21/2019 - Four professors, one instructor, and one TA are on the Fall 2018 Excellent Teacher list. Professors Bryan Dunne and Brian Fields were listed as Outstanding.

Illinois Astronomer Helps Reveal Extragalactic Magnetic Field

03/07/2019 - Illinois Prof Looney was among the science team that released a beautiful image of the dust inferred magnetic field in two galaxies.

Illinois Astronomers Help to Uncover Clues to the Evolution of the Universe

02/21/2019 - Illinois Profs Looney and Crutcher and grad student Erin Cox were among the science team that released a beautiful image of the dust inferred magnetic field in the Orion nebula using SOFIA HA

Prof. Gammie Awarded Associate Research Appointment

02/21/2019 - Department of Astronomy Professor Charles Gammie has been selected for a prestigious Associate Research Appointment in the Center for Advanced Study (CAS) during the 2019-2020 academic year.

Erin Cox Wins Bob Brown Dissertation Award

02/12/2019 -

Astronomy Professors use the Dark Energy Survey for New Discoveries

02/12/2019 - The Dark Energy Survey recently finished with observations (taken over 6 years and cataloging hundreds of millions of galaxies), and Illinois astronomers (including Profs.

Grad Student Works to Detect Globular Star Clusters

11/29/2018 - Globular star clusters are favorite targets for amateur sky watchers.

Yixian Cao Earns PhD

11/16/2018 - Yixian Cao earned her PhD on November 15, 2018. The title of her defense was "Spatially Resolved Study of Molecular Isotopologue 13CO In Nearby Galaxies". Congratulations, Yixian!