KU Astronomy Student Research

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Student Research in Astronomy Connecting students to the universe

THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

KU ExoLab

DR. IAN J.M. CROSSFIELD

Prof. Crossfield leads the KU ExoLab, a research group dedicated to the discovery and characterization of nearby planetary systems.

This group focuses on studying exoplanet formation, composition, detection, and characterization, and the development of instrumentation to further those pursuits!

RESEARCH FOCUS

Our research focuses on exoplanets (i.e., planets in other solar systems), their atmospheres, their stars, and the links between all these.

We measure planet’s sizes (via transits), masses (via radial velocities), and atmospheres (via JWST and HST) Our team's work helps us learn: What physical processes determine the makeup and architecture of other solar systems. In parrticular: What other planets and other stars are made of How and where other exoplanets formed, accreted, migrated, and evolved How planet formation and composition is linked to a planet’s host star

RESEARCH AREAS Exoplanet discovery Follow-up of new planets Space-based spectroscopy RV mass measurements High-resolution O/IR imaging Exoplanet atmospheres New JWST observations: transmission, emission, and phase curve spectroscopy Atmospheric modeling Disequilibrium chemistry Clouds and hazes Atmospheric compositions Linking observations to formation Stellar astrophysics FGKM dwarf star studies Elemental abundances Isotopic abundances Star-planet connections Brown dwarf studies

EXPLORE STRANGE NEW WORLDS...

Questions?

Please visit https://crossfield.ku.edu/

for more information on current research being done within the ExoLab at the University of Kansas

THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

KU ExoLab DR. IAN J.M. CROSSFIELD

For further questions please contact: Dr. Ian J.M. Crossfield Associate Professor Physics and Astronomy Department University of Kansas 1251 Wescoe Hall Dr. Lawrence, KS 66045 Email: ianc@ku.edu Office: 2058D Malott Hall

ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser

ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser

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Kirkpatrick Research Group: AGNerds DR. ALLISON KIRKPATRICK

Our students and postdocs are working on leading questions in the field of active galactic nuclei (AGN), particularly related to how AGN affect their host galaxies. Our group is part of two main collaborations: The Accretion History of AGN (AHA) and Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS).

ACCRETION HISTORY OF AGN (AHA) This collaboration is dedicated to finding the most extreme black holes in the universe by surveying the Stripe 82 field with X-ray telescopes Chandra and XMMNewton and finding multiwavelength counterparts.

Our team is working on the far-IR counterparts of extreme X-ray sources. In the far-IR, the host galaxy outshines the black hole, and we can measure it's star formation rate. But finding far-IR emission in extremely X-ray luminous AGN is rare.

Our group is actively working on understanding Cold Quasars--the most extreme black holes in the most extreme star forming galaxies. Through our research, we hope to better understand what kinds of galaxies host extreme supermassive black holes.

COSMIC EVOLUTION EARLY RELEASE SCIENCE (CEERS) We are guaranteed some of the first observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) through our Early Release Science program that will observe the EGS field.

My group will focus on identifying weak AGN at z=1-2 (or 7-11 billion years ago).

In preparation for this, Cassie Hatcher quantified the total energy output of X-ray undetected AGN through stacking of Chandraimages (Hatcher et al. 2021).

She found that mid/far-IR selection techniques can reliably detect lower-luminosity AGN than X-ray selection alone or near-IR selection.

She also found that the majority of AGN reside in galaxies on the main sequence, regardless of AGN luminosity or detection wavelength.

Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)

Questions?

EXAMINE THE MOST EXTREME BLACK HOLES...

Please visit https://kirkpatrick.ku.edu

for more information on current research being done within the KU AGN Group at the University of Kansas

THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

KU AGN Group AGNerds DR. ALLISON KIRKPATRICK

For further questions please contact: Dr. Allison Kirkpatrick Assistant Professor Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Kansas 1251 Wescoe Hall Dr. Lawrence, KS 66045 Office: 2056C Malott Hall Phone: 785.864.0481 Email: akirkpatrick@ku.edu

Chandra X-ray Observatory NASA/CXC & J. Vaughan

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THE NEARBY GALAXIES LAB DR. ELISABETH A.C. MILLS

The center of our Galaxy is home to extreme phenomena, from the clouds of the densest, hottest, and most turbulent gas in the Milky Way, to the most massive stars in existence and a central supermassive black hole weighing 4 million times the mass of our sun. At KU, Professor Mills and the Nearby Galaxies Lab are leading new surveys to uncover its mysteries. KU students study this region using data from world-class international facilities like the Atacama Large Millimeter and Submillimeter Array (ALMA), the Very Large Array, SOFIA, and JWST.

RESEARCH FOCUS

RESEARCH AREAS

Our research focuses on studying the properties of the gas in the center of our galaxy and other nearby galaxies.

Interstellar Medium Astrochemistry Molecular Excitation Radiative Transfer

We observe spectral lines from a range of molecules and try to figure out how much gas is present, where it is located, how it is moving, and its temperature, density, and chemical composition.

We work to answer questions like: how black holes are fed and grow, how galaxies shut off star formation through feedback, and how unique gas properties in galaxy centers impact the physics of these processes.

The Galactic Center The Central Molecular Zone The Circumnuclear Disk Sgr A* Milky Way Galaxy's central supermassive black hole Nearby Galaxies NGC 253: a nearby, nuclear starburst galaxy NGC 4945: a Seyfert galaxy with active black hole and starburst Circinus: a spiral galaxy with active black hole though to be driving massive molecular outflows without a starburst present

Our work is done primarily with ground-based telescopes, especially radio and millimeter interferometers like the VLA and ALMA. Milky Way NASA/JPL-Caltech

Questions?

PEER INTO THE CENTERS OF NEARBY GALAXIES…

Please visit https://mills.ku.edu

for more information on current research being done within the Nearby Galaxies Lab at the University of Kansas

THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

NEARBY GALAXIES LAB DR. ELISABETH A.C. MILLS

For further questions please contact: Dr. Elisabeth A.C. Mills Assistant Professor Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Kansas 1251 Wescoe Hall Dr. Lawrence, KS 66045 Office: 2058B Malott Hall Phone: 785.864.1778 Email: eacmills@ku.edu

ALMA Telescope ESO/José Francisco Salgado

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KU GALAXIES GROUP DR. GREGORY RUDNICK

Our group studies how galaxies have evolved over roughly the past 11 billion years. We are especially interested in how the evolution of galaxies is affected by the cosmic regions in which they live, their so-called environment. We address these questions by combining observations taken at wavelengths extending from the ultraviolet through the radio and collect these data using the world’s largest telescopes.

RESEARCH FOCUS Our group seeks to understand how galaxies grow in their stellar mass, how their gas is converted to stars, what processes regulate and eventually stop this star formation, and how these process effect the spatial distribution of material in galaxies.

We use imaging and spectroscopy to measure the environments of galaxies and to determine the mass in stars in each galaxy, how it is spatially distributed, and how it is growing. For nearby galaxies we can use small telescopes but for the more distant galaxies we need to use the world’s largest telescopes (Magellan, VLT, Gemini, Subaru, and Keck) and all of NASA’s large spacebased telescopes (Hubble and JWST). We use radio telescopes (VLA and ALMA) to directly measure the gaseous contents of galaxies.

We try and answer the following questions: What processes act preferentially in dense environments like galaxy groups and clusters to shut off star formation in galaxies, or even temporarily enhance it?

In the most distant clusters, how did galaxies assemble differently than in lower-density surroundings?

How do different processes that stop star formation affect the spatial distribution of gas and stars within individual galaxies?

RESEARCH AREAS Galaxies in the Cosmis Web Large Scale Structure of galaxies Comparison with simulations Extended regions around clusters both near and far Galaxy Evolution in the Earliest Clusters Searching for the earliest forming clusters (protoclusters) Studying galaxy assembly in these protoclusters The Baryon Cycle in Galaxies How does gas flow in and out of galaxies How does the rate of galaxy growth depend on these flows

NGC 3877/ Legacy Survey

Questions?

STUDY HOW GALAXIES EVOLVE OVER THE LAST 11 BILLION YEARS

Please visit https://rudnick.ku.edu

for more information on current research being done within the KU Galaxies Group at the University of Kansas

For further questions please contact: Dr. Gregory Rudnick Professor Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Kansas 1251 Wescoe Hall Dr. Lawrence, KS 66045 Office: 2056B Malott Hall Phone: 785-864-4099 Email: grudnick@ku.edu

International Gemini Observatory NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Chu

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KU Galaxies Group DR. GREGORY RUDNICK