News/Events

An international team of astronomers, including members of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav), has announced the results of a comprehensive search for ripples in the fabric of space-time – known as gravitational waves. The team searched for low-frequency gravitational waves, which can originate from supermassive black hole binaries residing in galaxies or from events occurring soon after the formation of the universe in the Big Bang. Detecting these low-frequency signals will open a brand-new window in the gravitational wave spectrum and help scientists enhance their understanding of the evolution of galaxies, their central black holes, and the early universe.

Christine Ye, a high school senior at Eastlake High School and a student in the Pulsar Search Collaboratory, was recently named one of the top 300 scholars in the 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search competition.

Haley Wahl, a fifth year PhD student in Physics and Astronomy at WVU, has been awarded the AAS (American Astronomical Society) Media Fellowship.

West Virginia University was well represented by both current and former Mountaineers at the 2021 Fall NANOGrav Collaboration meeting last week at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.  The meeting was held October 13-15, 2021 and included scientific talks, special guest speakers, poster sessions, and panel discussions.

Working alongside industry data scientists and data engineers, Di Pang was immersed in a world where he could apply his knowledge and expertise in data sciences in a new way.

Over the summer, the WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy hosted eight undergraduate students in research programs with the goal of attaining astrophysics research experience through faculty-led mentoring and hands-on training. 

Magnetar outbursts are one of the most energetic phenomena in the Universe. Steady outflow of ejected particles from magnetars, known as magnetar wind nebulae, are rare and how these outbursts impact their environment is still an open question. Researchers at WVU have found the first evidence of the effects of magnetar outbursts on a compact nebula surrounding a young radio pulsar.