College: College of Letters and Science
Designation: Department
Major: Astronomy
Degrees Offered: M.S., Ph.D.
Other: Ph.D. Minor
Faculty: Associate Professor Wilcots (chair); Professors Churchwell, Gallagher, Hoessel, Mathieu, Nordsieck; Associate Professors Barger, Bershady, Lazarian; Assistant Professor Sheinis; Emeritus Professors Bless, Code, Mathis, Cassinelli, Reynolds, Savage
The Department of Astronomy offers the doctor of philosophy in astronomy. Although a master's degree is offered, students generally are not admitted for a terminal master's degree.
The department has a long-standing reputation as one of the finest graduate astronomy and astrophysics programs of its size in the United States. The program provides each student with a broad knowledge of modern observational and theoretical astrophysics, while emphasizing the development of independent research skills. Beginning with the first year in the program, graduate students play an active role in the department's research programs and have access to all research facilities. As teaching assistants, they also acquire experience as astronomy educators.
The program covers a broad range of research interests including theoretical and observational studies of star formation, stellar atmospheres, binary star evolution, interstellar gas and dust, stellar dynamics, stellar populations, the structure and evolution of galaxies, galaxy clusters, and the distant universe.
Stellar astrophysics has long been a strength at Wisconsin, with recent work directed toward stellar coronae and winds, the formation and evolution of massive stars, the origin and interpretation of the polarization of starlight, and the evolution of binary systems from formation through their final stage as cataclysmic variables. Wisconsin has long been internationally recognized for investigations into the composition and dynamics of the interstellar medium, the nature of interstellar dust, the evolution of supernova remnants, and the galactic gaseous halo. Dynamical studies include the formation and evolution of young star clusters. Our focus in extragalactic astronomy includes studies of structure of galaxy disks, galactic bars, and massive galactic halos, the dynamics of galaxies in clusters, and observations of high redshift galaxies. Work on stellar populations in our own galaxy and others combines information from all these areas.
Astronomical observations at the UW-Madison trace their origin to the 15-inch refractor of Washburn Observatory, founded on the campus in 1878, and still open for public viewing. In collaboration with Indiana University, Yale, and the National Optical Astronomical Observatories, the department operates the WIYN telescope, an advanced technology 3.5m telescope, at Kitt Peak, Arizona, optimized for wide-field imaging and spectroscopy.
Students use WIYN for research in collaboration with faculty and scientific staff; remote observing capabilities provide opportunities for a wide range of projects. The University of Wisconsin is also a major partner in the 11m Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), which was dedicated in Fall 2005 in Sutherland, South Africa. As the largest single aperture optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, SALT will complement not only WIYN, but the department's involvement in the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) to be built in northern Chile. The Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM) is a uniquely powerful facility dedicated to the study of the warm ionized gas in the Milky Way; this Fabry-Perot wide-field spectrometer is located at Kitt Peak, Arizona, and operated remotely from Madison. The Pine Bluff observing station (15 miles west of Madison) has 36-inch and 16-inch telescopes instrumented for spectropolarimetry and high-speed photometry, dedicated to unique survey programs investigating stellar and circumstellar structure (through polarization), and stellar variability.
Wisconsin pioneered the multiwavelength approach to astronomical observation, and UW faculty, research staff, and students are frequent observers at optical, infrared, and radio telescopes around the world, such as the Kitt Peak National Observatory, Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in Chile, the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea, the Very Large Array and IRAM, as well as space facilities such as the Hubble Space Telescope, FUSE, Chandra, EUVE, the ROSAT X-ray observatory, and ISO (infrared). The department also plays an important role in the new Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF).
The Space Astronomy Laboratory (SAL) has a long history of instrumentation development, starting with instruments aboard the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, the world's first astronomy satellite. WISP, a rocket-borne imaging spectropolarimeter, is being used to study the polarization properties of astronomical objects. The Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer, now under development, may open a new window to the interstellar medium in the ultraviolet. SAL is also building an advanced star-tracker. The High Speed Photometer, on the Hubble Space Telescope, was the only HST instrument designed and constructed entirely on a university campus; UW astronomers are also members of the teams that developed the WFPC2 and GHRS instruments. The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment was one of three telescopes aboard the two ASTRO shuttle flights. SAL also built a spectropolarimeter for WIYN, and has a lead role for the design and construction of the prime-focus spectrograph on the SALT (11m) telescope.
Excellent library, computing, and shop facilities are available. The Woodman Astronomical Library is one of the older astronomical libraries in the country and contains complete collections of most astronomical journals. The department has its own system manager and maintains a network of powerful workstations.
The goal of the graduate program is to prepare capable and creative astronomers for careers in research and education. The granting of the Ph.D. degree indicates that the recipient has a mastery of the knowledge and techniques of modern astrophysics. A Ph.D candidate is expected to be both knowledgeable of problems at the frontiers of astrophysical research and able to carry out independent forefront research in a specialized area. Candidates are required to gain experience as teaching assistants and are encouraged to work with a variety of faculty and research staff members during the first two years of study.
Graduate students from other departments who wish to minor in astronomy should ask the department to assign them a minor professor. The minimum requirement for a minor is 10 credits from courses at or above the 500 level offered by the Department of Astronomy, to include both Astronomy 500 and Astronomy 700.
To enter as a graduate student, an applicant must have undergraduate preparation that includes at least three years of college physics and mathematics through differential equations. Applicants are judged on the basis of previous academic record, letters of recommendation, personal statement, research experience, and Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores. Admission is competitive and is for the fall only.
Applicants for admission must submit the following to the department:
* Official transcripts of all undergraduate work
* Reasons for graduate study
* Three letters of recommendation from people well acquainted with past academic work (can be submitted electronically--see the application)
* Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores (general test and subject test in physics)
* International students must submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
Financial support is provided through university fellowships (incoming graduate students only) or department assistantships. To compete for fellowships awarded by the university, students must submit all application materials (including the GRE scores) to the department office by January 10. Supporting materials must be submitted to the Department of Astronomy. Applications completed after January 10, but before February 1, will be considered for assistantships but are too late for fellowships.
For more information: Department of Astronomy, 5534 Sterling Hall, 475 North Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706-1582; 608/262-8544; fax 608/263-6386; gradinq@astro.wisc.edu; www.astro.wisc.edu.