Astronomy

Measuring the mass of a galaxy cluster is difficult—clusters cannot be “weighed” by placing them on a scale. Digvijay Wadekar, current Member in the School of Natural Sciences, has worked to develop an AI program to identify new variables that might make inferring the mass from other observable quantities more accurate.

A research team, led by current Visitor Roman Rafikov, has developed a technique to study planet formation in other solar systems. By analyzing the vortices that form within discs of gas and dust around young stars, limits can be placed on the mass and age of planets of various sizes.

"The gas gobbled up by M87* and Sgr A* (the supermassive black holes at the centers of Messier 87 and the Milky Way), is likely a mix of hydrogen and helium with just a dash of heavier elements, but we don’t know its exact composition."

“We can see the unseen. An astonishing deep-field image of crashing galaxies and bygone nebulae. A glimpse at what the death of our own sun might look like. Baby stars being born perched on cosmic cliffs. The first photographs of the JWST are breathtaking, and they will dramatically change how we understand the universe."

Chris Hamilton, current Member in the School of Natural Sciences, has received the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) 2021 Ph.D. Prize to Recognize Excellence in Astrophysics for his thesis “Secular Dynamics of Binaries in Stellar Clusters," supervised by current IAS Visitor and frequent Member Roman Rafikov. 

Past Member Roger Ulrich (1975) has been named a winner of the 2022 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics. He is cited, along with Conny Aerts and Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard, for “pioneering work and leadership in the development of helioseismology and asteroseismology.”

Brant Robertson, Maureen and John Hendricks Visiting Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, joins the AI Podcast for a discussion of how astronomers are leveraging artificial intelligence to transform vast quantities of astronomical data into...

Of the Hubble Space Telescope, John Norris Bahcall, former Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, and colleagues wrote, “What is at stake is not only a piece of stellar technology but our commitment to the most fundamental human quest...

Freeman Dyson, Professor Emeritus in the School of Natural Sciences, has been honored with the Robert Heinlein Memorial Award presented by the National Space Society. The award honors the work he has done as a ground-breaking physicist and...

Barak Zackay, Member in the School of Natural Sciences, has been awarded a 2017 Ph.D. Prize by the International Astronomical Union. The IAU prize recognizes outstanding scientific achievements in astronomy by Ph.D. students around the world. Zackay...