![]() As an undergraduate, Sebastian earned a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship that kicked off his graduate studies in astronomy at Harvard.ĭuring his time at the Center for Astrophysics, Sebastian studied transients, sudden astronomical phenomena such as supernovae, and tidal disruption events-when a star is torn apart by a black hole. Originally from Juarez, Mexico, 27-year-old Sebastian Gomez is fluent in both Spanish and English and holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Texas at El Paso. She also is an avid Dungeons and Dragons player and enjoys woodworking, playing the piano, and hiking. In her free time, Tarraneh supports first-year graduate students as a peer mentor, meeting regularly with mentees to discuss anything from classes to research. Later this year, Tarraneh will join Northwestern University, where she has been awarded a prestigious CIERA postdoctoral fellowship. Originally from Santa Fe, Tarraneh holds a bachelor’s degree in astrophysics from the University of New Mexico and previously worked as an operator of the Long Wavelength Array Telescope. Tarraneh’s discovery suggests one explanation: the mysterious, ultrabright explosions are powered by a “central engine,” or magnetar. Scientists still do not know what causes these stellar explosions to be 10 or more times brighter than the average supernova. Her proudest moment was observing and documenting the first-ever radio light at the center of a superluminous supernova. Now as a graduate student, Tarraneh studies explosive events in the universe. “I knew then and there that the CfA was the place for me.” “The graduate students and I grabbed dinner in Harvard square at Beat Brew Hall, sharing drinks and stories late into the night I felt so welcomed,” she recalls. ![]() Radio astronomer Tarraneh Eftekhari will never forget visiting the Center for Astrophysics six years ago as a prospective student. Theron will also never forget the time he sat in on a guest lecture by renowned physicist Stephen Hawking. He will miss being a member of the Cambridge Running Club, the “breakfast sandwich at Sarah’s Cafe,” and the sense of community and inclusivity that he has helped build here at the center. Theron holds special memories of his time at the Center for Astrophysics. By studying their mass and radius, Theron hopes to better understand how the curious objects form and evolve.Īfter graduation, Theron will go on to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where he will serve as a research associate in astronomy. Using the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona, the Clay Telescope on the roof of the Center for Astrophysics, and other telescopes, Theron has spent the last several years searching for and cataloging brown dwarf stars. Theron specializes in the study of brown dwarfs, or “very successful planets,” as he puts it.Īstronomers still do not understand brown dwarfs, rare objects that float between planets and stars. When he’s not searching the night sky for rare objects, 27-year-old Theron Carmichael spends his time building computers from scratch and running marathons. She’s served as a consultant for Mattel on the design of an astrophysics Barbie doll and is the co-founder of the Harvard chapter of Open Labs, an outreach program in which graduate students inspire K-12 students by providing fun talks about research.Īfter earning her PhD, Munazza will go on to a postdoctoral fellowship at the Carnegie Earth & Planets Laboratory in Washington, D.C. Munazza enjoys sharing her love of astronomy with younger age groups, especially girls and students of color. She is fluent in English and Urdu, but can also get by in French, Spanish, and German. When Munazza isn’t combing the cosmos, she enjoys painting, sketching, and learning new languages. ![]() “Are they cloudy or hazy? What chemicals are they comprised of?” she asks. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, the Magellan Telescopes in Chile, and other instruments, she specifically looks at planet atmospheres and what they’re made of. Munazza’s search begins with the of study exoplanets-planets outside of our solar system. “We don’t know what an Earth twin will look like, but we hope conditions will be just right to host some kind of life,” she says. Twenty-seven-year-old Munazza Alam has a goal: Find Earth’s twin.
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