News
School of Physics and Astronomy

Scientists on the hunt for a previously undetected type of gravitational waves believe they are getting close and have refined techniques to use in upcoming observational runs. Researchers from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration outlined the most sensitive search to date for continuous gravitational waves from a promising source in a paper recently published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

New data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed that the structures of galaxies in the early universe were much more diverse and mature than previously known. RIT Associate Professor Jeyhan Kartaltepe said that JWST’s ability to see faint high redshift galaxies in sharper detail than Hubble allowed the team of researchers to resolve more features and see a wide mix of galaxies.

In a study led by RIT researchers, scientists analyzed new measurements showing that the light emitted by stars outside our galaxy is two to three times brighter than the light from known populations of galaxies, challenging assumptions about the number and environment of stars are in the universe.

A recent trip to a cancer center in Boston helped astrophysicists from RIT's Center for Detectors reach a key milestone in their mission to develop advanced CMOS image sensors for future NASA space missions.

RIT will begin offering a new Ph.D. in the fall of 2024 that is designed to prepare graduates to extend the frontiers of fundamental scientific knowledge and develop new advances in technologies at the forefronts of 21st century physics.

By using radio telescopes to study sun-like stars in their death throes, scientists hope to reveal important information about the origin of life-enabling chemicals in the universe. The NSF is awarding a $339,362 grant to a team led by Professor Joel Kastner to conduct such a study.

RIT student Lazar Buntic received a earned a graduate research fellowship through the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology program to develop infrared detectors for next generation telescopes.

New images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope show what may be among the earliest galaxies ever observed. The images were taken from the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS), led by a scientist at The University of Texas at Austin. Jeyhan Kartaltepe, an associate professor from RIT, is one of 18 co-investigators from 12 institutions along with more than 100 collaborators from the U.S. and nine other countries.

Dean Sophia Maggelakis will be leaving RIT to become the senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Maggelakis joined RIT as an assistant professor in 1990, became head of the School of Mathematical Sciences in 2001, and became dean of the College of Science in 2010.

A team of RIT scientists is poring over NASA data for new insights about Earth’s youngest, closest neighbors. Joel Kastner, a professor in RIT’s Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science and School of Physics and Astronomy, received nearly $400,000 for a NASA archival study to advance our understanding of newly formed stars and planets.

Astrophysical sciences and technology Ph.D. student Olivia Young earned a competitive fellowship from the National Science Foundation to develop machine learning algorithms that will help scientists use radio telescopes to study transient objects such as pulsars and fast radio bursts.

Associate Professor Ben Zwickl will head to the University of Oslo this fall to research what he calls one of the most understudied aspects of the undergraduate physics curriculum.