Our own Clara Moskowitz, who graduated as an Astronomy major in 2005, was selected as Woman Physicist of the Month by the American Physical Society! Clara is currently an Editor at Scientific American. Read all about it here:
Wesleyan Astronomy Well Represented at AAS Meeting
Many Wesleyan staff, students and alums attended the 227th meeting of the American Astronomical Society from Jan. 4-9, 2016, in Kissimmee, FL. Here are a few pictures from the event including research posters by current students Girish Duvvuri and Jesse Tarnas, as well as post-doc Wilson Cauley. Also shown are former students Amy Steele, now in the Ph.D. program at U. Md. and alums Josh Wing, Evan Tingle and Marshall Johnson, who stopped by Roy Kilgard’s poster to say “Hi”. Marshall is just finishing his degree at U. Texas.
Public Programming for 2016
It’s our Centennial year, and we have an exciting program of events for the spring semester! First up, our popular Kids’ Nights will resume on Friday, February 5 at 8pm.
Then, on Saturday, February 6 at 7pm, we will have a special public program: in celebration of the 143rd birthday of Frederick Slocum, Wesleyan’s first Observatory Director, our own Roy Kilgard will be presenting a 1916-era public astronomy lecture in period-accurate attire using original vintage lantern slides and projector.
Finally, our normal program of Wednesday evening Space Nights will resume on February 10th at 8pm.
We’ve got a lot more in store for the semester, so stay tuned!
A Body in the Observatory
On November 6 and 7, we officially kicked off the celebration of the centennial of Van Vleck Observatory with a series of performances by world-renowned modern dancer Eiko Otake in the historic refractor dome. I had the distinct honor of playing a (very) small part in Eiko’s performance–operating the restored 20″ telescope through a series of motions choreographed to Eiko’s dance. Below are a few photographs that capture the beauty of this unique event.
My own experience was one of delight and terror. While teaching is in many ways a form of performance, it is a solo act. The “audience” depends solely on the performer’s ability to engage them. And though I spent much of my early life as a musician, it was either solo or in larger ensembles; it is not since my childhood of playing duets on piano with my sister that I’ve had one other performer so dependent upon my actions. I’m not under the illusion that any mistake I could make would have ruined Eiko’s work–one need only glance at a list of locations where she has danced to see that she clearly enjoys an element of unpredictability. Still, it was that thrill that kept me from getting totally lost in Eiko’s etherial movements.
As a professional astronomer, the experience of getting to know and work with a performer like Eiko is one that can only happen at a place like Wesleyan. I feel incredibly lucky and humbled.
-Roy Kilgard, November 2015
Dance Performance and Public Reopening of the 20″ telescope this weekend
Friday night 9-11pm and Saturday night 8-10pm marks the Grand Re-Opening of the restored 20″ refracting telescope! Wesleyan is host to the 8th-largest refracting telescope in the country, but you might not have seen it before since it has been closed for the past 1.5 years while it has been completely disassembled, lovingly restored piece-by-piece, and reassembled into a marvel of old and new astronomical instrumentation. The views are simply spectacular. For more information about the 20″ restoration, check out the website.
As part of the observatory centennial celebration, Dance Professor and former MacArthur (“Genius Grant”) Fellow Eiko Otake will be giving a dance performance called “A Body in the Observatory,” which is free and open to the public. There are performances Friday at 6:30 and 8pm, and Saturday at 4 and 6:30pm. For more information, check out the Center for the Arts page. You can find a video of Professor Otake discussing the performance on our Facebook page.
Wesleyan Students Present Research Results
The 26th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium of the Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium (KNAC) was held at Williams College on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015, and Wesleyan was well represented! Six students presented results of their summer research: Julian Dann, Aylin Garcia Soto, Cail Daley, and Girish Duvvuri gave oral presentations while Rachel Aronow and Avi Stein presented a poster. Several other students came along to enjoy the weekend, which featured a dinner and social event on Friday night, the seminar on Saturday and breakout sessions on such topics as Inclusive Astronomy and how/why to program in Python. Over 100 students and professors from KNAC attended and a good time was had by all!
First Light for Refurbished 20-inch Refractor!
Last night the Astronomy faculty and staff were treated to spectacular views of our favorite objects through the fully refurbished 20-inch Clark refractor! The telescope performed flawlessly and views of the Ring Nebula, Andromeda, Uranus, a couple of globular clusters, Albireo, etc. were breathtaking. The computer control quickly and accurately slews the telescope to objects selected by name, seamlessly flipping it to the appropriate side of the pier. It is a wonder to watch and to look through. The telescope will be open to the public on Homecoming Weekend and we will be establishing a regular schedule of public events with it in the months to come. Congratulations and many thanks to Roy Kilgard and Fred Orthlieb for seeing this all through! Thanks also to our many generous donors and supporters inside and outside the University.
E. Myles Standish, Wesleyan Astronomy MA ’62 Receives Distinguished Alumni Award
E. Myles Standish Jr. ’60, MA ’62
![[E. Myles Standish Jr. ’60, MA ’62 ]](http://wesconnect.wesleyan.edu/s/1318/images/editor/inpage/standish_myles.jpg)
Myles Standish, a Mathematics major and Astronomy MA graduate spent most of his professional career at the California Institute of Technology’s NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), creating and continually improving high-precision planetary ephemerides (orbital positions) vital to the successful navigation of planetary spacecraft. Those ephemerides are now the world’s standard, providing data to virtually all of the national almanac offices, astronomical researchers, and observatories.
A recognized leader in his field, Dr. Standish has been chairman of the American Astronomical Society’s Division on Dynamical Astronomy (AAS/DDA) and president of the International Astronomical Union’s Commission 4 (Ephemerides). He received the AAS/DDA Brouwer Award in 2000 and NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal in 2008. Asteroid “3420 Standish” is named in his honor.
Dr. Standish maintains that Wesleyan pointed him toward mathematical astronomy when its first computer was squeezed through the basement window of Van Vleck Observatory. He followed bachelor’s and master’s degrees here with a PhD at Yale University.
Father of three sons, Dr. Standish later volunteered for 25 years with the American Youth Soccer Organization as a game scheduler, regional commissioner, chief referee, and coach. In recognition of his contributions, the city of Pasadena hosts the annual Myles Standish Thanksgiving Tournament. He also was an active member of the local YMCA and of his sons’ high school booster club.
Dr. Standish is now retired and lives with his wife on the shore of Lake Keowee in South Carolina. He is involved with community affairs and gives lectures on a wide variety of topics through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Clemson University. He also continues to referee professional papers, answer questions on astronomy, and fulfill computing requests from astronomers around the world.
Rain or Shine Space Nights at Wesleyan
Starting on February 4th, 2015, the Van Vleck Observatory at Wesleyan University will be opening its doors to the public every Wednesday night, rain or shine, for a series of space nights. Come talk to students and faculty about the latest space-related discoveries by scientists at Wesleyan and around the world. For the spring semester, the events will start at 8pm, beginning with a half-hour interactive presentation by students and/or faculty, followed by a chance for everyone to see the sky through Wesleyan’s telescopes (weather permitting). Presentations are intended to be accessible to visitors of all ages, although aimed primarily at high school level and above. A series of monthly kids’ nights is in the works as well. For more information and a schedule of events, check out the Astronomy department website at www.wesleyan.edu/astro/events or follow us on Twitter at @WesAstro .
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