Astrophysics

Vanderbilt graduate student Shaniya Jarrett created a community outreach project that introduces Black girls to astronomy by incorporating music. AstroBeats: Sounds of the Cosmos brings together local middle-school Black girls to translate NASA data into unique musical compositions, teaching the importance of thinking creatively about how to interpret scientific data. Read More

The Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program, emphasizing multi-messenger astronomy, utilized strategic funding from a Scaling Success Internal Award to secure a $1.7 million NSF grant. This collaborative journey, focusing on inclusive STEM education and innovative training approaches, highlights the power of adaptability and vision in research endeavors. Read More

Led by Stephen Taylor, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, a collaborative effort across 88 institutions has identified evidence of slowly undulating gravitational waves passing through our galaxy. Read More

The Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program, a partnership to create equitable pathways to STEM, has been awarded a Sloan Foundation grant for the first U.S. graduate certificate course in multi-messenger astronomy.  Read More

Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, Stevenson Professor of Astrophysics, has received the 2022 Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The award is for individuals who have mentored significant numbers of underrepresented students who are working toward doctorates in STEM. Read More

Keivan Stassun joins leading astronomers to write "Astro2020," a once-in-a-decade guide for astronomy research, prioritizing gargantuan telescopes on the ground and in orbit as well as increased diversity and inclusion. Read More

Karan Jani, research assistant professor of physics and astronomy, convened experts from around the world at the European Gravitational Observatory in Italy to further explore the possibility of detecting gravitational waves on the moon. Read More

Not a moonshot: Karan Jani explores possibility of lunar observatory to better understand fundamental physics, astronomy and cosmology Est. reading time: 2 mins. Read More

Led by Vanderbilt astrophysicists, researchers work with data from thousands of galaxies to investigate the origins and physics of black hole binaries in nearby galaxies. Est. reading time: 2 mins. Read More

Vanderbilt astronomers lead group that created the roadmap for studying supermassive black holes after detecting the low-frequency gravitational waves they create. Est. reading time: 2 mins. Read More

Stars mapped out by Vanderbilt astronomers for exploration by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission and recently decommissioned Spitzer Space Telescope have led to the discovery of AU Mic b, a newly formed Neptune-like exoplanet located a relatively short 31.9 light-years away. Read More

With support from the Heising-Simons Foundation, Vanderbilt will help advance underrepresented minority astrophysics scholars to secure faculty appointments with elite postdoctoral fellowships. Read More

A promising new study developed by one Vanderbilt astrophysicist may give us a method for finding the number of available stars in the history of the universe that collide as binary black holes.  Read More

New research led by Vanderbilt astrophysicist Karan Jani presents a compelling roadmap for capturing intermediate-mass black hole activity. Read More

An astrophysicist at Vanderbilt is part of the committee behind a review of NASA’s updated Science Plan, a five-year strategic roadmap for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. Read More

Before we go further and send humans to Mars, we need to know if doing so could trigger the extinction of existing life on the planet, writes Professor of Astronomy David Weintraub. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Keivan Stassun serves as a deputy principal investigator on the mission and is tasked with identifying the most promising stars to target in its search for habitable nearby planets. Read More

Astronomers have come up with a new and improved method for measuring the masses of millions of solitary stars, especially those with planetary systems. Read More

Astronomers from Vanderbilt, Lehigh and Ohio State universities have discovered a “puffy planet" with the density of Styrofoam that is an excellent test-bed for probing exoplanets for signs of life. Read More

Data scientist Dave Spiegel presents a physics and astronomy colloquium, “From Exo-Worlds to Health Monitoring to Clothing Personalization,” Dec. 8. Read More