College of Arts and Sciences » Astronomy

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Astronomy Colloquium presentation Karina Cooper

Title: The Life and Legacy of Dr. Nancy Grace Roman   Abstract: On August 30, 2026, NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, but who was its namesake?  In this talk you will learn about the life and scientific legacy of Dr. Nancy Grace Roman (1925-2018) and how she overcame the barriers facing women in early 20th century American astronomy to become the first chief of astronomy at NASA and “Mother of the Hubble Space Telescope,” brought to life with personal photos, oral histories, and original documents from her newly digitized archives at the AIP Niels Bohr Library & Archives.   Bio:  Karina Cooper is a librarian at the Niels Bohr Library & Archives at the American Institute of Physics (AIP) in College Park, MD. She holds a master's degree in library and information science from University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign and has a background in astronomy. At AIP she works to make its history of science collections accessible to the public and to highlight underrepresented histories in the physic… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Auditorium (PAA). Campus room: PAA A102. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Thursday, October 8, 2026, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.

Astronomy Colloquium presentation Bryna Hazelton

. Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Auditorium (PAA). Campus room: PAA A102. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Thursday, October 15, 2026, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.

Join the College of Arts & Sciences Team for the Alaska Airlines Dawg Dash

Calling All Arts & Sciences Dawgs! Join fellow alumni, students, friends, artists, scientists, historians, philosophers, writers and curious minds of the College of Arts & Sciences for the Alaska Airlines Dawg Dash on Sunday, October 18! Part campus tour, part reunion, and all Dawg pride, you'll partake in a little interdisciplinary running through the heart of the UW, passing favorites like the Liberal Arts Quadrangle, Denny Hall, and the site of the future Chemical Sciences Building. Bring your Arts & Sciences spirit and we'll bring the one-of-a-kind bandanas (picture below) for everyone who signs up to join the College's team for the 10K run, 5K run/walk, or Husky Pups Run. A portion of your registration fee helps support the UW Alumni Association’s general scholarship fund. Race registration usually sells out before the event, so don't delay. Sign up to be on the College of Arts & Sciences team for the Alaska Airlines Dawg Dash here. In addition, visit the College of Arts & Sciences tent for fun,… Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: casevents@uw.edu. Event Types: Special Events. Sunday, October 18, 2026. For more info visit runsignup.com.

Astro Lunch DiRAC Talk by Sarah Thiele

Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Building (PAB). Campus room: B305. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.

Astronomy Colloquium presentation Tom Quinn

Title: From Planets to Cosmology: research highlights from the N-Body Shop.   The N-body problem, i.e. the orbits of N particles interacting under their mutual gravity, is foundational to a large range of astrophysical phenomenon.  The size scales range from meter size objects in Saturn's rings to the large scale structure of the Universe on Gigaparsec scales.  The numbers of particles to be modeled runs from a few for determining the stability of planetary systems to as many as computationally feasible for modeling large scale structure. The ``N-Body Shop'' research group at the University Washington and its alums have contributed to a wide range of these models.  I will present some highlights of these contributions as well as prospects for future work. Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Auditorium (PAA). Campus room: PAA A102. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Thursday, October 22, 2026, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.

Astro Lunch DiRAC Talk by Benjamin Zhang

Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Building (PAB). Campus room: B305. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Tuesday, October 27, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.

Astronomy Colloquium presentation TBD

Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Auditorium (PAA). Campus room: PAA A102. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Thursday, October 29, 2026, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.

Astro Lunch DiRAC Talk by Milan Pesta

Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Building (PAB). Campus room: B305. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.

Astronomy Colloquium presentation Lachlan Lancaster

Title: Astrophysics at the Interface: The Dynamical and Observational Roles of Phase Transition Layers Abstract: Astrophysical fluid dynamics is the study of inherently large scale flows, which are naturally high Reynolds number (the momentum of the fluid is large compared with viscous stresses) and therefore turbulent. The sources of energy in astrophysical systems are highly structured in space and time (supernovae, stars, and black holes) and the dispersal of that energy is slow (microphysical heat diffusion is weak) so that astrophysical fluids are also inherently multi-phase. The facts of turbulence and phase structure mean that often the most efficient way of moving energy through an astrophysical system is by turbulent mixing between these phases. The intermediate phases created through mixing at interfaces between phases are often strongly thermally unstable and can therefore result in prodigious radiative emission from the layers, with profound dynamical and observational consequences. A similar… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Auditorium (PAA). Campus room: PAA A102. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Thursday, November 5, 2026, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.

Astro Lunch DiRAC Talk by Tara D.

Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Building (PAB). Campus room: B305. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.

Astronomy Colloquium presentation Calvin Leung

Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Auditorium (PAA). Campus room: PAA A102. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Event sponsors: Title From Radio Interferometry to Astrophysics and Cosmology using Fast Radio Bursts   Abstract: Since their discovery, Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) have captivated the astrophysics and cosmology communities due to their diverse origins and broad utility as diffuse-gas probes. I will outline the breakthroughs in low-frequency radio VLBI pioneered by CHIME/FRB Outriggers, and how this has translated into progress in understanding the sources and their local environments. Through standardization of the… Thursday, November 12, 2026, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.

Astro Lunch DiRAC Talk by Niusha Ahvazi

Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Building (PAB). Campus room: B305. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Tuesday, November 17, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.

Astronomy Colloquium presentation Mandy Chen

Title: Turbulence in Circumgalactic Gas Abstract: Turbulence plays a central role in the thermodynamic evolution of the circumgalactic medium (CGM), yet measuring its properties from observations remains difficult. Integral field spectrographs (IFS) such as VLT/MUSE, Keck/KCWI, and JWST/NIRSpec IFU are now detecting extended emission-line nebulae around quasars and massive galaxies, opening a window to scale-dependent, two-point statistical characterization of gas motions in the diffuse CGM. In this talk, I will present empirical measurements of CGM turbulence using IFS data, highlighting the new kinematic constraints these observations provide on diffuse gas and the emerging insights they offer into AGN feedback and the baryon cycle. I will also discuss our efforts to build a robust interpretive framework by combining simulations with forward modeling to connect these observations to the underlying physical processes. Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Auditorium (PAA). Campus room: PAA A102. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Thursday, November 19, 2026, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.

Astronomy Colloquium presentation Abby Lee

Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Auditorium (PAA). Campus room: PAA A102. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Thursday, December 3, 2026, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.

Astro Lunch DiRAC Talk by Viraj Karambelkar

Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Building (PAB). Campus room: B305. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Tuesday, December 8, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.

Astronomy Colloquium presentation Courtney Dressing

Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Physics-Astronomy Auditorium (PAA). Campus room: PAA A102. Accessibility Contact: Liza Young. Event Types: Academics. Thursday, December 10, 2026, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.