The Maria Mitchell Association’s National Science Foundation-Research Experiences for Undergraduate (NSF-REU) Astronomy Interns to Present Research at Science Speaker Series

Tess McCarthy • August 8, 2022

Nantucket, MA –  On August 10th at 7pm, the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) is hosting a live lecture by the MMA’s NSF-REU astronomy interns. They will present their individual research projects developed under the guidance of professional astronomers. Research topics include everything from unraveling the physics of stars and stellar explosions, to searching for galaxies in the early universe and understanding the nature of the elusive “dark matter” that pervades our universe. The REU interns will later present their research at the winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), to take place in Seattle, Washington, in January 2023. Dr. Regina Jorgenson, the MMA’s Director of Astronomy says,“It’s been an honor to mentor and to work with these amazing early career scientists who have joined us here on Nantucket for a summer of astronomical research, exploration, and fun.” For more than sixty years, the MMA has offered summer research opportunities in astronomy and astrophysics for students on Nantucket and is a recognized leader in training the next generation of astronomers. This presentation is part of the MMA’s FREE Science Speaker Series and will be held both in-person, at the MMA’s Research Center located at 2 Vestal Street, and via Zoom.


The summer 2022 NSF-REU intern class and their project titles consists of:


  • Danya Alboslani, University of Connecticut
  • 3D Simulations of Nova Explosions
  • Chris Chang, Willamette University
  • Understanding the Evolution of Magnetically Active Subgiant Stars
  • William Jarvis, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Using Integral Field Spectroscopy to Reveal the Secrets of Galaxy Formation and Evolution
  • Kaitlyn Shavelle, Columbia University
  • Dark and Luminous Matter in Colliding Galaxy Clusters
  • Devisree Tallapaneni, Cornell University
  • Astromineralogy with the Energy-resolved Dust Scattering Halo of GX 13+1
  • Anavi Uppal, Yale University
  • Getting Ready to Pinpoint the Locations of Massive Black Holes Lurking in Galaxies with Rubin/LSST.


The Maria Mitchell Association is a private non-profit organization. Founded in 1902, the MMA works to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages.

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For Immediate Release

August 8, 2022

Contact: Tess McCarthy, Communications and Marketing Intern

marketinginterns@mariamitchell.org

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June 1851 My Dear Sister . . . . Mrs. Dassel has painted me kneeling at my telescope. It looks like Adeline Coffin and is of course not handsome. If thee was here thee would have Mitchell’s {William Mitchell Barney, son of Sally and Matthew Barney} painted at once. She has a head of a child N. P. Willis that is very lovely. She has taken a room at the Atheneum and put up about a dozen pictures – very beautiful – Isabel is lovely. She has not tried to make a portrait, but a very pretty picture . . . . She is now engaged on Abra’m Quary – he is much flattered by it and it will be a fine portrait. I think we shall buy it or a copy for the Atheneum . . . . She will paint father also for herself – having made a pencil sketch . . . .We like her very much . . . . The above is from a letter sent by Maria Mitchell to her eldest sister, Sally Mitchell Barney. In it, Maria details what everyone in the Mitchell family is up to. She includes some details about Herminia B. Dassel, an artist who came to Nantucket to paint the last Native Americans and also took an interest in the famous Mitchell family. This was of course four years after Maria’s discovery of the comet. At the time of this letter, Maria was still the librarian for the Atheneum and the portrait of Quary that she mentions possibly buying for the Atheneum, she did buy as it hangs in the Atheneum by the front door today. Another Dassel portrait of Quary is in the collection of the Nantucket Historical Association and the portrait of Isabel Draper is currently on display at the NHA’s Whaling Museum – on loan from a museum in Rhode Island. The portrait Maria states she posed for at the start of the letter is in the collection of the MMA. It was given to us in the early 1990s by Sally’s great granddaughter – the granddaughter of Mitchell whom she mentions above as well. Maria and Dassel would become good friends – Maria was named the godmother of Dassel’s daughter. And the sketch of William made by Dassel that Maria states would become a portrait? It likely did come to fruition. It made its way down a side of the family but was unfortunately lost, likely sold as part of a family estate though we do have a photograph of it and one can tell it is the brush work of Dassel. JNLF

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