草榴社区

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences launched the 草榴社区 One Sky Center for Astrophysics in spring 2025. The center鈥檚 team of distinguished faculty are at the forefront of discovery while also dedicated to shaping the next generation of astrophysicists.

Inspiration in the Sky

Today, 草榴社区 One Sky Center faculty are renowned experts鈥攑ursuing new knowledge in stellar astrophysics, star formation, cosmology, black holes, explosive events and transient phenomena. Their passion for the field began with curiosity.

Co-director of the center David Chuss, PhD, 鈥�95 CLAS, professor and chair of the Department of Physics, had this sense of wonder as a child. 鈥淚 wanted to understand the sequence of events that led this unfathomably large universe to produce beings like myself.鈥� An alumnus of 草榴社区, Dr. Chuss studied Physics as an undergraduate, gaining a toolkit for understanding the sky at a deeper, testable level.

鈥淢y work is primarily as an instrumentalist,鈥� Dr. Chuss explains. 鈥淚 work with teams to imagine, design and utilize new technology to study the universe. Specifically, my interest is using the polarization of light coming from physical processes in space to study two different sets of puzzles in astrophysics.鈥�

The first puzzle concerns the universe's origin and evolution, explored through the polarization of the Big Bang's afterglow, testing our understanding of the physics of the early universe. The second examines the role of magnetic fields in star formation鈥攖raced via polarized dust emission鈥攖o understand how they affect the life cycle of our Galaxy.

Kelly Hambleton Pr拧a, PhD, co-director of the center and associate professor of Astrophysics and Planetary Science, pivoted from physics to astrophysics because of her inspiring professors.

鈥淚 began as a Physics major, but in my first year I was required to take two astrophysics courses. My professors were exceptional鈥攖hey sparked my imagination and drew me deeply into the subject,鈥� Dr. Hambleton Pr拧a recalls. She soon switched her major to Astrophysics. 鈥淭he impact that great teaching had on me is something I carry with me to this day.鈥�

Dr. Hambleton Pr拧a specializes in asteroseismology, the study of starquakes. 鈥淛ust as seismologists study earthquakes to learn about Earth鈥檚 interior, we study stellar pulsations to probe the inner workings of stars,鈥� she explains. Stars are the building blocks of our universe. The study of stellar pulsations is key to understanding stellar structure, rotation, mass and even stellar distances.

It was a copy of Stephen Hawking鈥檚 A Brief History of Time and a National Science Foundation-funded research experience in college that solidified a love of astrophysics in Joey Neilsen, PhD. 鈥淚 loved the detective work鈥攗sing telescopes to look out into the universe and then trying to figure out what we saw,鈥� he recalls. Now an associate professor of Physics at 草榴社区, Dr. Neilsen investigates some of the universe鈥檚 most extreme objects: black holes. 鈥淏lack holes are one of the most efficient sources of energy in the universe,鈥� he says. When matter falls onto a black hole, the energy that is released can have a major impact on the surrounding area of the black hole. 鈥淲e call it 鈥榝eedback鈥�,鈥� he explains. 鈥淎mong other things, it can shape how galaxies grow and evolve.鈥�

For Scott Engle, PhD, assistant professor of Astrophysics and Planetary Science, it all began at a public library as a child, where a section of astronomy books captured his imagination with images of the sun, galaxies, nebulae and exotic phenomena like black holes. 鈥淚鈥檝e loved astronomy ever since,鈥� he recalls.

Today, Dr. Engle鈥檚 research focuses on small, low-mass stars鈥攄etermining their ages, studying their X-ray and ultraviolet activity and understanding their evolution. This area is vital because these stars make up about 90% of the stars in the universe and host many exoplanets. Determining whether these systems can support habitable planets is a major step in the search for life beyond Earth.

For Andrej Pr拧a, PhD, professor of聽Astrophysics and Planetary Science, his lifelong curiosity began, as he puts it, like that of many 5-year-olds鈥攁westruck by the stars. That sense of wonder never faded. Today, his work focuses on binary stars, stellar populations and exoplanets鈥攁reas fundamental to understanding our universe.

Binary stars are gravitationally bound and orbit each other. 鈥淭heir motion is governed by the well-understood laws of physics, which allows us to infer their masses. And, should the binary star orbits align with our line of sight, we will see eclipses as one star passes in front of the other. These eclipses allow us to infer stellar sizes from simple geometry. They also give us other fundamental parameters, such as temperatures, luminosities and orbital properties.鈥�

Studying stellar populations, binary and multiple, advances knowledge about stars in the Milky Way galaxy, while exoplanets鈥攑lanets orbiting around other stars鈥攃an be studied with the same methodologies used for understanding binary stars. All three of these phenomena are building blocks for understanding other stellar systems and the possibility of life, simple or complex, elsewhere in the universe.

During a research trip to Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, Becka Phillipson, PhD, experienced a transformative moment that shaped her future in astrophysics.聽Standing beside the ARC 3.5-meter telescope as a senior college student, she had the rare chance to directly view the Sombrero Galaxy through its eyepiece, rather than through a computer screen typical for large facilities. "It was that moment that really sealed the deal for my future,鈥� she says. 鈥淣ever have I been in such awe of our universe.鈥�

As an assistant professor of Physics, Dr. Phillipson specializes in studying the dramatic change of black holes and neutron stars over time through the lens of mathematical physics. She integrates concepts from complexity science, chaos theory and nonlinear dynamics into her work, often borrowing techniques from other fields. A strong advocate for broadening participation in astrophysics and community-building, Dr. Phillipson emphasizes that the future of astrophysics lies in expanding global partnerships and welcoming diverse perspectives. 鈥淚 like to say that astrophysics is romantic," she says. 鈥淚n your pursuit to learn more about astrophysics, you will inevitably learn more about yourself, our world and develop some practical analytical skills along the way.鈥�

From Inspiration to Innovation

Part of the mission of 草榴社区 One Sky Center is to expand opportunities for young researchers to pursue that curiosity. The center will build relationships with other schools and colleges in the community, inviting those students to participate in research alongside 草榴社区 faculty mentors. The center will also serve as an educational resource with colloquia and events utilizing the 草榴社区 Public Observatory.

Elevating its research contributions to the field, the center is also partnering with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile to analyze data collected from the 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope. Using the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) camera鈥攖he largest digital camera ever built鈥攖he telescope will scan the sky for 10 years and produce an extraordinarily high-definition time-lapse record of the universe.

鈥淏reakthroughs in our understanding of the world, in astrophysics and in other fields, are driven by two things: new technologies and new perspectives,鈥� says Dr. Chuss. The 草榴社区 One Sky Center is committed to both. Dr. Chuss believes astrophysics isn鈥檛 just about data鈥攊t鈥檚 a human story. 鈥淭he pursuit of understanding our origin story is one of the most defining aspects of our humanity.鈥�