Silas Laycock

Silas Laycock

Professor of Astronomy, UMass Lowell

I joined UMass Lowell in Fall 2010, following postdoctoral research at Gemini Observatory and Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. I completed my Ph.D in Astronomy at the University of Southampton, UK in 2002. My research is focused on Pulsars, Black Holes, Binary Stars, X-rays, High Energy Radiation, Optical Spectroscopy, and Adaptive Optics.

Latest articles by Silas Laycock

This photo by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which the agency unveiled on July 11, 2022, shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. It’s the first science-quality image that the mission has revealed.

James Webb Space Telescope: An astronomer explains the stunning, newly released 1st images

By Silas Laycock published

The buzz among professional astronomers has been electric since members of the Webb team shared tantalizing test images. And the real images are even better than anyone could have hoped for.

James Webb Space Telescope
The moon often looks enormous when it first rises because of what is known as the moon illusion.

Why does the moon look close some nights and far away on other nights?

By Silas Laycock published

Stargazing