Observational Astronomy and Astrophysics
The observational astrophysics group uses a variety of techniques and observational facilities to study stars, exoplanets, and stellar remnants like neutron stars and black holes. Exoplanet research focuses on their demographics and the connections between planets, their host stars, and the stellar populations they belong to. The study of compact objects focuses on multi-wavelength observations of accretion disks. We use and collect data from NASA’s Hubble, JWST, Chandra, and Roman space telescopes among others, as well as from large ground-based telescopes including the Vera Rubin Observatory, Gemini, and the CHARA interferometer. We are significantly invested in the design of future space and balloon missions, including the Habitable Worlds Observatory, LUSTER and SAKHMET.
Faculty
Tabetha Boyajian
Boyajian measures the fundamental properties of stars—particularly stellar radii and temperatures—using optical/infrared interferometry, spectroscopy, and photometry, with applications to stellar evolution and the characterization of exoplanet host stars. Her work also includes time-domain stellar variability, including the unusual behavior of KIC 8462852 (“Boyajian’s Star”), and the development of lunar-based astronomical facilities such as the LUSTER time-domain mission concept and future lunar optical interferometry.
Natalie Hinkel
Hinkel studies the composition of stars, having created the Hypatia Catalog, the largest multidimensional database of element abundances in nearby FGKM-type stars. She relates the stellar make-up to the interior structure, mineralogy, and surface conditions of their small planets, since stars and planets are formed from the same material. She is especially focused on M-dwarf stars, which are difficult to observe from the ground but are the best place to detect Earth-sized planets.
Robert Hynes
Hynes uses multiwavelength observations to study accretion, variability, and binary evolution in systems containing black holes, neutron stars, and white dwarfs. Building on the Galactic Bulge Survey, his current work uses large time-domain surveys to identify and characterize compact binaries, including optical counterparts to X-ray sources with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and a Roman Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey program targeting compact binaries and Galactic X-ray populations. His group also performs detailed multiwavelength studies of individual sources using facilities such as JWST, Chandra, and XMM-Newton.
Matthew Penny
Penny works on exoplanet demographics, using wide-field imaging surveys to search for planets via transits and gravitational microlensing, as well as work on aspects of Milky Way structure. He is heavily involved in the Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey by the NASA Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and leads transit and microlensing surveys using the wide-field camera DECam on the CTIO Blanco 4m telescope.