About Us

The Astronomy Department at Indiana University, Bloomington, maintains a full program of activities in teaching, research, and outreach. The department occupies the fourth floor and part of the third floor of Swain Hall West, on East Third Street in Bloomington. The Physics Department occupies the remainder of the building, along with the library for mathematics, physics, astronomy, and computer science. Bloomington is a town of about 121,000 in the wooded rolling hills of southern Indiana. The Bloomington campus of Indiana University has about 38,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Astronomy at Indiana University has a long history, beginning with Daniel Kirkwood in 1856. The historic Kirkwood Observatory on campus dates from 1900 and and the 12-inch refracting telescope there is used for public nights during spring, summer, and fall. The doctoral program began in 1950 and has produced over 100 Ph.D. astronomers now engaged in teaching and research worldwide. The department is a partner in the WIYN 3.5 meter and WIYN 0.9 meter telescopes atop Kitt Peak near Tucson, Arizona. In addition, the department has a number of local telescopes ranging in aperture from 0.41 meter to 1.25 meter.

General astronomy questions may be directed to astdept [at] indiana.edu. More specialized questions regarding the department should be sent to the appropriate individual listed below:

Chair, Caty Pilachowski, cpilacho [at] indiana.edu
Department Office, astdept [at] indiana.edu
Undergraduate Advisor, Teeka Gray, grayle [at] indiana.edu
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Constantine Deliyannis, cdeliyan [at] indiana.edu
Director of Graduate Studies, Enrico Vesperini, evesperi [at] indiana.edu