Faculty Research


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Agol, Eric
Interests: Eric Agol is predominantly interested in theoretical studies of compact objects and gravitational lenses. He has modeled black hole accretion disks with the goal of explaining the spectra and variability of active galaxies, he has made predictions for viewing the shadow of the Galactic center black hole, he has developed a technique for imaging quasars on very fine scales using gravitational lensing, and he has pointed out how to find finding isolated black holes and white dwarfs in binaries in our own galaxy using gravitational microlensing and X-ray surveys. More recently he has modeled eclipses of stars by their companion planets, a promising technique for finding extra-solar planetary systems. He has dabbled in observing, making multi-wavelength observations of the gravitational lens known as the 'Einstein Cross', and, more recently, polarimetric measurements of a T-Tauri star which eclipses once every 48 days.
Assistant Professor
PhD in Physics, UC Santa Barbara 1997
Joined Dept in Fall 2003
Office: B370
Phone: 543-7106
Email: agol
Web Page
Anderson, Scott
Interests: Anderson's current research interests focus on observational studies of high energy phenomena, including quasars and X-ray sources. Along with affiliated students and postdocs, Anderson makes use of data from a variety of ground- (e.g., 3.5m) and space-based instruments (e.g., Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory). He is also actively involved in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Anderson teaches courses related to high energy astrophysics and radiative processes.
Professor
PhD University of Washington 1988
Joined Dept in
Office: C306
Phone: 685-2392
Email: anderson
Web Page
Balick, Bruce
Interests: Prof. Balick's interests range from star formation to the final throes of stellar evolution; in particular, how planetary nebulae that surround these stars might reveal the history of formation and evolution of stars in various phases in which gas infall or outflow is involved. He also works on chemical enrichment rates from low-mass stars. Prof. Balick and his collaborators focus on the nebular hydrodynamics and the construction of numerical models in which detailed physical processes are included. Balick is an active user of large optical and radio telescopes and the Hubble Space Telescope. He serves on the design team for the next generation camera, WFC3, to be installed in HST in 2008. He is a member of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee which monitors the progress and funding of interagency projects and advises Congress annually.
Professor
PhD Cornell University 1971
Joined Dept in 1975
Office: C308
Phone: 543-7683
Email: balick
Web Page
Baum, Bill
Interests: HST-WFPC2 observations of globular cluster systems in elliptical galaxies to investigate their properties and their implications concerning the cosmic distance scale (1995 AJ 110, 2537; and 1997 AJ 113, 1483). Also the mean density of matter in the "local" universe and the associated value of Lambda (1998 AJ 116, 31).
Emeritus Research Professor
PhD Physics Caltech, 1950
Joined Dept in 1990
Office: C324
Phone: 543-4858
Email: baum
Web Page
Becker, Andrew
Interests: My research interests in the past have focused on detecting and following-up unusual microlensing events in real-time (with MACHO, GMAN, and MPS). However, my pursuits have since broadened to the generalized problem of detecting and classifying astronomical variability regardless of type (with DLS, SDSS, and LSST). In particular, if one wants to recognize rare classes of transient events, the background of more prosaic astronomical variability must first be recognized and removed. Modern surveys that simultaneously survey faint, fast, and wide are now at a threshold where we expect these new sorts of discoveries. Accomplishing this will require advances in the integration of computing and information management necessary to extract and model astronomical variability information in real-time. Recent science pursuits include: mining survey data for distant Trans-Neptunian Objects, phasing large time-series of 2MASS data for periodic variability, pursuing a novel method to estimate Supernova Type Ia distances and constrain cosmology, undertaking a Principal Component Analysis of M-dwarf spectra, and writing reams of software for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.
Assistant Professor
University of Washington, 2000
Joined Dept in 2002
Office: C327
Phone: 685-0542
Email: becker
Web Page
Böhm, Karl-Heinz
Interests: He taught earlier (until 1999) mostly stellar and solar physics. Reearch interests: Outflows ("Herbig-Haro jets", "disk winds" from recently formed stars, specifically T Tauri stars). The research concentrates mostly on the interpretation of (highly) spatially resolved spectra of outflows (optical,uv, and some near IR) and the interpretation of their background physics. - He is also interested in the hydrodynamic (and magneto-hydrodynamic) generation of outflows (jets) from young stars. Earlier interests include radiative equilibrium in stellar atmospheres and atmospheric and internal structures of white dwarfs.
Professor Emeritus
PhD University of Kiel, Germany, 1954
Joined Dept in 1968
Office: C322
Phone: 543-0077
Email: bohm
Web Page
Böhm-Vitense, Erika
Interests: General research interest: Stellar atmospheres, Stellar evolution.
Recent special research interests: Barium stars, Cepheids Present research: Stellar chromospheres, transition layers, and coronae.
Professor Emeritus
PhD 1951 from Kiel, Germany
Joined Dept in 1970
Office: C324
Phone: 543-4858
Email: erica
Web Page
Brook, Chris
Interests: Coming Soon
Postdoc
PhD Swinburne University of Technology, 2004
Joined Dept in 2007
Office: B376
Phone: 616-5001
Email: cbrook
Web Page
Brownlee, Don
Interests: Don's primary research interests focus on the origin and evolution of planetary materials, planets and planetary systems. He is extensively involved with the laboratory study of primitive materials from asteroids and comets and he is PI of the NASA's Stardust comet sample return mission. He is also a member of the UW Astrobiology program and he has recently co-authored two books with UW paleontologist Peter Ward on the Earth's evolution to become a habitat for advanced life and the remarkable aspects of the processes involved as viewed from the perspectives of space and time.
Professor
PhD University of Washington, 1971
Joined Dept in 1975
Office: C331
Phone: 543-8575
Email: brownlee
Web Page
Connolly, Andy
Interests: Coming Soon
Associate Professor
Joined Dept in 2007
Office: B355
Phone: 543-9541
Email: ajc
Web Page
Dalcanton, Julianne
Interests: The bulk of my work is focussed on making direct tests of the physics of galaxy formation. My current research in this area is based upon using the observational properties of nearby disk galaxies to constrain their formation epoch, dark matter properties, and baryonic content. I also have other research efforts into the dwarf galaxy content of the local universe, and the properties of very high redshift clusters of galaxies
Associate Professor
PhD in Astrophysics, Princeton, 1995
Joined Dept in 1998
Office: B382
Phone: 685-2155
Email: jd
Web Page
Governato, Fabio
Interests: Fabio works on cosmic structure fomation using N-Body simulations as his primary tool. His current interests focus on understanding how galaxies formed and evolved and on how to compare observations from HST and the other Great Observatories with theoretical predictions based on the "Cold Dark Matter" model. He gets his best ideas while eating veagan donuts.
Research Professor
PhD University of Rome II, Tor Vergata in 1996
Joined Dept in 2002
Office: B378
Phone: 543-2604
Email: fabio
Web Page
Hawley, Suzanne
Interests: Suzanne Hawley works in stellar astrophysics, particularly in the areas of magnetic activty, low mass stars, brown dwarfs and variable stars. She is co-author of a recent graduate textbook with Neill Reid entitled "New Light on Dark Stars" (Springer-Praxis). She also studies star clusters, the stellar content of dwarf galaxies, and galactic structure. A former member of the NOAO users committee, Gemini science committee, the Space Telescope users committee, she is now Director of the Apache Point 3.5-m telescope. Hawley serves on the NOAO telescope allocation committee.
Professor and Chair
PhD University of Texas, 1989
Joined Dept in 1999
Office: C305
Phone: 685-2236
Email: slh
Web Page
Hodge, Paul
Interests: Teaching: currently advising graduate student thesis research Research interests: Local Group galaxies, modes of star formation, star clusters and their formation, HII regions in galaxies, meteorite craters.
Emeritus Professor
PhD Harvard, 1960
Joined Dept in 1965
Office: B355
Phone: 543-6307
Email: hodge
Web Page
Hogan, Craig
Interests: Hogan studies astrophysical cosmology, the global evolution and structure of the Universe. Current interests include the measurement of global parameters (such as the expansion rate, the deceleration rate, and global curvature), the ionization history of the universe, the conversion of protogalactic gas into galaxies (in particular, the protogalactic baryon distribution as revealed by new HST observations of helium absorption), and the nuclear evolution of the light elements, especially what we can learn about the Big Bang from deuterium absorption in quasar spectra.
Professor
PhD Cambridge University, 1980
Joined Dept in 1990
Office: B357
Phone: 685-2112
Email: hogan
Web Page
Ivezic, Zeljko
Interests: Zeljko Ivezic (pronounced something like Gelco Evazich) is interested in detection, analysis and interpretation of electromagnetic radiation from astronomical sources. He has spent the last six years working (and having lots of fun) on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and is currently using SDSS (and other) data to study asteroids, Milky Way structure, and multi-wavelength properties of stars, galaxies and quasars. He is also interested in radiative transfer and is engaged in studies of dusty environments around young and old stars, and active galactic nuclei. These days, most of Zeljko's time is spent on his duties as the System Scientist for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
Assistant Professor
PhD University of Kentucky, 1995
Joined Dept in Fall 2004
Office: C313
Phone: 543-9375
Email: ivezic
Web Page
Jones, Lynne
Interests: Coming Soon.
Post-Doc
Joined Dept in Fall 2006
Office: C325
Phone: 543-9487
Email: ljones
Web Page
King, Ivan R.
Interests: Research centers on the structure and population content of globular clusters. Current work is based on observations made with the Hubble Space Telescope. Much of present efforts are in high-precision astrometry with HST, which allows the study of internal motions of stars in the clusters. This will lead to a better understanding of the dynamics of the clusters, and eventually to a marked improvement in the scales of their distances and ages. At the same time, proper-motion separation of cluster stars from field stars allows study of cluster stars down to the hydrogen-burning limit. Other efforts go into dynamical modeling of globular clusters. Peripheral interests in the structure of the Milky Way and of other galaxies.
Research Professor
PhD Harvard, 1952
Joined Dept in 2002
Office: B372
Phone: 685-9010
Email: king
Web Page
Krughoff, Simon
Interests: Coming Soon.
Post-Doc
Joined Dept in Fall 2007
Office: C320
Phone: 543-9849
Email: krughoff
Larson, Ana
Interests: Teaching interests: My interests lie in teaching introductory astronomy courses incorporating active student participation in lectures, labs, and on-line exercises, and curriculum development for these courses, including an on-line text book and exercises. I am also involved in the outreach program here, primarily with the old campus observatory and with teaching summer camps with young scholars.
Lecturer
PhD University of Victoria, BC 1996
Joined Dept in 1996
Office: C335
Phone: 685-7856
Email: larson
Web Page
Laws, Chris
Interests: Coming Soon.
Lecturer
PhD University of Washington 2004
Office: B349
Phone: 221-7949
Email: laws
Web Page
Linnell, Al
Interests: Prof. Linnell currently investigates Cataclysmic Variable systems. The analysis involves application of his BINSYN program for producing synthetic light curves and synthetic spectra of system components from a single self-consistent physical model. The program involves extensive use of the programs TLUSTY and SYNSPEC developed by collaborator Ivan Hubeny. Simulation results have documented departures of accretion disks from the standard model and have produced fits to light curves of magnetic CV systems.
Affiliate Professor
PhD in Astronomy, Harvard University 1950
Joined Dept in 1993
Office: home
Phone: 206-522-2129
Email: linnell
Web Page
Lutz, Julie
Interests: Professor Lutz is interested in understanding the physical characteristics of planetary nebulae and their central stars and how these objects fit into the patterns of stellar evolution. She also analyzes the spectra of symbiotic stars (binaries containing an evolved hot star and a cool star) to determine their chemical compositions, velocities and variability. She has broad interests in astronomy education, including working with K-12 educators, museums, science centers and after-school program
Research Professor
PhD, University of Illinois, 1972
Joined Dept in 2000
Office: C335
Phone: 206-685-7856
Email: jlutz
Web Page
Matrajt, Graciela
Interests: Graciela's primary research interests focus on the origin and evolution of life throughout the universe. She is extensively involved with the laboratory study of primitive materials from asteroids (meteorites and interplanetary particles) and the recent samples from a comet that were brought back by the NASA's Stardust comet sample return mission. She works with the PI of the Stardust mission. She is also a member of the UW Astrobiology program.
Post-Doc
PhD in Astrobiology University of Paris VI, Pierre and Marie Curie, France, 2001
Joined Dept in 2004
Office: C327
Phone: 685-0542
Email: matrajt
Meadows, Victoria (Vikki)
Interests: Victoria Meadows is an astrobiologist and planetary astronomer whose research interests focus on acquisition and analysis of remote-sensing observations of planetary atmospheres and surfaces. In addition to studying planets within our own Solar System, she is interested in exoplanets, planetary habitability and biosignatures. Since 2000, she has been the Principal Investigator for the Virtual Planetary Laboratory Lead Team of the NASA Astrobiology Institute. Her NAI team uses models of planets, including planet-star interactions, to generate plausible planetary environments and spectra for extrasolar terrestrial planets and the early Earth. This research is being used to help define signs of habitability and life for future extrasolar terrestrial planet detection and characterization missions.
Associate Professor
PhD, University of Sydney, 1994
Joined Dept in 2007
Office: B374
Phone: 543-0206
Email: vsm
Mottini, Marta
Interests: My dissertation research was focused on the determination of the chemical composition of Magellanic and Galactic Classical Cepheids. In particular, my goal was to assess the effect of the metallicity on the Period-Luminosity relation. While still involved in projects related to Cepheid chemical composition, my primary research at UW is the chemical analysis of stars in globular clusters (red giants) and galactic streams (MS and TO stars).
Post-Doc
PhD, Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, 2006
Joined Dept in 2006
Office: B349
Phone: 221-7949
Email: marta
Web Page
Mukadam, Anjum
Interests: Coming Soon.
Post-Doc
Office: C315
Phone: 543-5280
Email: anjum
Web Page
Quinn, Tom
Interests: Tom leads the N-body shop, where he works on running and analyzing N-body simulations of structure formation in the Universe. His other research interests include Galactic and Solar System dynamics, and planet formation. He is a member of the UW Astrobiology program. He is also involved in developing scientific software for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and chairs the SDSS Solar System working group.
Professor
PhD Princeton University 1986
Joined Dept in 1993
Office: B380
Phone: 685-9009
Email: trq
Web Page
Silvestri, Nicole M.
Interests: While at Florida Tech I worked primarily on white dwarf stars, specifically those in wide binary systems with M dwarf companions. My dissertation research focused on the determination of a chromospheric activity-age relation from the activity of the M dwarf and the age of the white dwarf in these systems (publication by summer, 2003!). Now that I am here at UW, my research interests have shifted slightly to the investigation of close white dwarf-M dwarf binary systems. We plan to observe enough of these systems to see what they can tell us about the activity of M dwarf stars in close binary systems and what influence this magnetic activity might have on cataclysmic variable systems. I am also interested in studying the variability, ages, and other observable properties of white dwarf and low mass stars and I am currently working on several white dwarf and M dwarf projects through collaborative efforts with the SDSS and Florida Tech.
Post-doc
PhD in Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 2002
Joined Dept in 2003
Office: C325
Phone: 543-9487
Email: nms
Web Page
Smith, Toby
Interests: My primary research and teaching interests are focused on the processes that shape the surfaces of the worlds of our solar system. In particular, his research has focused on investigating and sampling terrestrial meteorite craters to study the physical process that create and distribute meteoritic material around them. My primary teaching interests are the geological processes and history of the solar system and the history of the Apollo Lunar missions.
Lecturer
PhD University of Washington 1995
Joined Dept in 1998
Office: C338
Phone: 616-2959
Email: smith
Web Page
Sullivan, Woodruff
Interests: Professor Sullivan`s interests are in galaxies, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), and the history of astronomy. Hismost recent work on galaxies explores the dynamical differences between cluster spirals and those in the field, based on H-alpha rotation curves of spirals in galaxy clusters. He has also carried out numerous neutral hydrogen (21-cm line) studies of various samples of galaxies using the VLA and Arecibo. SETI activity is currently focussed on a collaboratiuon with the Serendip group, using the Arecibo 1000-foot dish for an all-sky search for a wide variety of signal modulation at 21 cm. History of astronomy activity emphasizes the twentieth century, in particular the development of early radio astronomy and post- World-War-II cosmology.
Professor, joint with History of Science
PhD University of Maryland, 1971
Joined Dept in 1973
Office: C318
Phone: 543-7773
Email: woody
Web Page
Szkody, Paula
Interests: Professor Szkody uses a multiwavelength approach to study close binary stars with active mass transfer (Cataclysmic Variables). Her current research involves ultraviolet observations with the Hubble Space Telescope and the GALEX and FUSE satellites, X-ray observations with Chandra and SMM, infrared observations with Spitzer as well as APO and ground-based optical facilities around the world. With colleagues participating in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, she is currently finding the faintest, lowest mass transfer CVs. These observations have led to insights into the nature of mass transfer and accretion onto magnetic and non-magnetic white dwarfs, the structure of accretion onto magnetic and non-magnetic white dwarfs, the structure of accretion disks and their X-ray-emitting boundary layers, stellar coronae, and the effects of irradiation on the upper atmospheres of late-type secondary stars. The results are elucidating the long-term evolution leading to the formation of these ultrashort period binaries.
Professor
PhD University of Washington, 1975
Joined Dept in 1975
Office: C311
Phone: 543-1988
Email: szkody
Web Page
Wallerstein, George
Interests: Professor Wallerstein's research is oriented around the chemical composition of stellar atmospheres. These are important clues to the composition to the origin of the star and its evolution. Stars reflect the environments of their formation by the composition of the gasses in their atmospheres. For example, stars formed 10-15 billion years ago in globular clusters show that these clusters ceased to produce the heavy elements seen in the Sun after only 1 percent of the solar level of heavies were produced. Other stellar atmospheres show a composition which was changed by nuclear reactions in their interiors. Prof. Wallerstein works closely with his students in observations at the telescope and the analysis of these data using computer models of stellar atmospheres. They interpret their data in terms of theories of stellar structure and core nuclear burning. Prof. Wallerstein also studies the structure of the interstellar medium through emission and absorption lines.
Professor Emeritus
PhD Caltech, 1958
Joined Dept in 1965
Office: B347
Phone: 543-8098
Email: wall
Web Page
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