Astronomy
Astronomy is one of the oldest scientific disciplines known to humankind. It has evolved from the humble beginnings of counting stars and charting constellations with the naked eye to the highly advanced technological capabilities of ground-based and space-orbiting telescopes and satellites. Astronomers use mathematics, physics, and chemistry to study celestial objects and phenomena, seeking to understand the origins and nature of the universe and our place within it.
The Exoplanet Transmission Spectroscopy Imager (ETSI) which can achieve Hubble Space Telescope quality precision form the ground. The imager has detected atmospheres around two dozen exoplanets.
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) operated by NASA. TESS is designed to discover thousands of exoplanets in orbit around the brightest dwarf stars in the sky. It is finding planets ranging from small, rocky worlds to giant planets, showcasing the diversity of planets in the galaxy.
The TESS Input Catalog (TIC) is a combination of a dozen astronomical catalogs and provides stellar parameters for more than 1.5 billion stars.
The Transient Optical Robotic Observatory of the South (TOROS) located in Argentina is a fully robotic observatory designed to observe and characterize optical transients typically indentified through LIGO or LSST alerts.
Dr. Joseph Romano's primary research interest is gravitational-wave (GW) data analysis, focusing on searches for stochastic GW backgrounds (the GW analogue of the electromagnetic cosmic microwave background). He has helped develop search methods for GW backgrounds using data from ground-based detectors LIGO and Virgo, space-based detectors like the planned mission LISA, and pulsar timing arrays. Early in his career, he performed research in the field of quantum gravity.
The Laser Interferometric Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) consists of two large-scale detectors, one located in Hanford, WA and the other in Livingston, LA. The detectors utlize laser light to precisely monitor the distances between the two 4 km-long arms of the L-shaped structures. These extremely slight changes (smaller than the size of a proton relative to length of one of the arms) are created by the stretching and squeezing of space caused by passing gravitational-waves.
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a joint project of the European Space Agency and NASA. LISA is a planned mission (scheduled to launch in 2034) consisting of three spacecraft placed at the vertices of an equilateral triangle in orbit around the Sun, trailing
the Earth. Each spacecraft will exchange laser light to carefully monitor the distance between the others, much like the LIGO detectors on Earth. The distance between the satellites is enormous, more than five times the distance between the Earth and the Moon, enabling researchers to detect small perturbations produced by many different types of sources in the Universe.
The North-American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves or NANOGrav searches for GWs by precisely monitoring the arrival times of pulses from an array of pulsars throughout the MilkyWay galaxy. When the radiation emitted from a pulsar crosses the line of sight between the Earth and the pulsar, radio telescopes on Earth observe a pulse of radiation each rotation cycle, roughly hundreds of times each second.
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is a branch of space science that applies the laws of physics and chemistry to seek to understand the universe and our place in it. Astrophysicists research and explore the origins of the universe as well as the life and death of stars, planets, galaxies, nebula and numerous other objects in the universe.
Dr. Liliana Rivera-Sandoval is an astrophysicist studying the behavior and interactions of celestial bodies by applying the same laws of physics that govern life on Earth. She is working to identify the first ultracompact white dwarf binary in a dense group of stars called globular clusters. In addition, she studies the interactions among the components of binary systems and what leads to their transient behavior.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is one of the largest and most rewowned publicly-accessible research tools. Named after astronomer Edwin Hubble, ths space telescope was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and still remains in operation. Controled by the Goddard Space Fligh Cneter, the spacecraaft observes the ultraviolet, visible and near-inrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, capturing extremely high-resolution images with a minimum of background light. It is the only telescope designed to be maintained in space by astronauts.
The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory (Swift) is a NASA space observatory providing scientists with a tool dedicated to answering questions and mysteires surrounding gamma-ray bursts. Within seconds of detecting a burst, Swift relays its location to ground stations, allowing both ground-based and space-based telescopes around the world the opportunity to observe the burst's afterglow.
Since its launch in 1999, The Chandra X-Ray Observatory, (Chandra) has been NASA's flagship mission for X-ray astronomy. The telescope is specificaly designed to detect X-ray emission from very hot regions of the universe. As X-rays are absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, Chandra has to orbit above the planet at an altitude of 139,000 km. The spacecraft allows scientists from around the world to obtain X-ray images of exotic environments to help understand the structure and evolution of the universe.
From their locations on Maunakea in Hawai‘i and Cerro Pachón in Chile, the International Gemini Observatory's telescopes can collectively access the entire sky. The observatory provides the astronomical communities in six participant countries (United States, Canada, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Korea) with state-of-the-art astronomical facilities that allocate observing time in proportion to each country's contribution.
Dr. Teviet Creighton is a theoretical astrophysicist focused on leading the federally-funded research and development program STARGATE aimed at achieving novel space technology. He is a former JPL employee and co-winner of the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for the discovery of gravitational-waves.
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) - currently made up of ore than 1,000 scientists - is a group who work together on the direct detection of gravitional wave science. Dr. Creighton is an original member of this collaboration.
The Spacecraft Tracking and Astronomical Research into Gigahertz Astrophysical Transient Emission (STARGATE) project at UTRGV is a research and development program aimed at developing technologies for space exploration and commercilization.
Dr. Creighton works with UTRGV Center for Innovation and Commercialization to develop roadmaps for space technology commercialization and education programs for space technology entrepreneurship.