Van Vleck Observatory

It's a little rainy, but they're still going to shine! Congratulations to our amazing Astronomy class of 2026! We are so proud of you and miss you already.

We are back from Spring Break and are excited to have Dr. Catrina Hamilton-Drager, a Wesleyan alumnus, back on campus to give her talk “KH 15D and its Next Era: What 75 Years of Observations Tell Us” this Wednesday, March 25th. Dr. Hamilton-Drager's research focuses mainly on young stars in the process of forming. Probably best known for her pioneering work on the young stellar system known as KH 15D, she has examined the rotation rates of stars in clusters of different ages to trace the evolution of angular momentum. Dr. Hamilton-Drager received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and M.S. from Arizona State University before receiving her Ph.D. from Wesleyan University, working with our very own Dr. Bill Herbst.