News
Astrophysical Sciences and Technology Ph.D.

Universe Today features Joel Kastner, professor in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, and astrophysical sciences and technology Ph.D. students Annie Dickson-Vandervelde and Emily Wilson.

Scientists from RIT have discovered a newborn massive planet closer to Earth than any other of similarly young age found to date. The baby giant planet lies only about 330 light years from our solar system. The discovery, published in the Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, provides researchers an exciting new way to study how gas giants form.

A team from RIT and the Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía (IAR) upgraded two radio telescopes in Argentina that lay dormant for 15 years in order to study pulsars, rapidly rotating neutron stars with intense magnetic fields that emit notably in radio wavelengths. The project is outlined in a new paper published in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

A graduate culture is taking root at RIT with more Ph.D. students on the main campus than ever before, and the Office of Graduate Education is building on the momentum.

Futurism cites research by Richard O’Shaughnessy, assistant professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences.

A team of RIT researchers is helping launch an experiment above the atmosphere to better understand extragalactic background light, which traces the history of galaxies back to the formation of the first stars in the universe.

Scientists have reported detecting gravitational waves from 10 black hole mergers to date, but they are still trying to explain the origins of those mergers. The largest merger detected so far seems to have defied previous models because it has a higher spin and mass than the range thought possible. A group of researchers, including RIT Assistant Professor Richard O’Shaughnessy, has created simulations that could explain how the merger happened.

The planet Mercury will pass directly across the sun next week for the last time until 2032, and RIT faculty and students will help the community view the rare event. Members of the RIT Observatory will set up telescopes for public use from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, in the Infinity Quad on the RIT campus.

The Christian Science Monitor talks to Manuela Campanelli, professor and director of the Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation.

WROC-TV talks to student Justin Gallagher and Professor Don Figer, director of the Center for Detectors, about a sensor technology that may contribute to finding other planets.

NASA is awarding a team of researchers from RIT and Dartmouth College a grant to develop a detector capable of sensing and counting single photons that could be crucial to future NASA astrophysics missions. The extremely sensitive detector would allow scientists to see the faintest observable objects in space, such as Earth-like planets around other stars.

The fellowship program provides opportunities to outstanding scientists and engineers to learn first-hand about policymaking and contribute their knowledge and analytical skills in the policy realm. Brennan Ireland ’18 Ph.D. (astrophysical sciences and technology) will use his analytical skills to quantitatively evaluate countries to get a better picture of what their futures look like.