Loren Anderson
West Virginia University, WV·Astronomy & Astrophysics
When a massive star dies, it explodes as a supernova. The glowing debris it leaves behind, called a supernova remnant (SNR), lasts for many thousands of years, far longer than the explosion itself.
- Fields
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Physics
- Topics
supernova remnants
supernovae
massive stars
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Search for new supernova remnants across the Milky Way using radio observations from the Very Large Array (VLA) combined with space-based infrared data.
- Add new radio continuum data from the MeerKAT telescope to detect remnants in crowded or faint regions of the Galaxy that earlier surveys missed.
- Verify supernova remnant candidates with machine learning that compares their appearance with known remnants, aiming to roughly double the known Galactic population.
- Develop a new West Virginia SPOT presentation on supernova remnants, delivered by trained college STEM majors to public school children.
More about the research
SNRs reveal how many massive stars a galaxy has and how much energy those stars release at the end of their lives. Yet the list of SNRs known in our own Milky Way is badly incomplete. Many remnants sit in crowded, confusing regions of the Galaxy, and sensitive data to find them have been lacking.
Why it matters
This is basic astronomy. A more complete count of supernova remnants would sharpen our picture of how many massive stars the Milky Way contains and how much energy their deaths put into the Galaxy. Doubling the known sample would give astronomers many new objects to study. The project also trains college STEM majors to bring astronomy into public school classrooms.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Christopher Kochanek
Ohio State University, OH·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Measure what fraction of massive-star core collapses fail and form a black hole without a supernova, by monitoring evolved stars in 27 nearby galaxies with the Large Binocular Telescope.
Farhad Yusef-Zadeh
Northwestern University, IL·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Determine the magnetic field orientation of Sgr A*'s variable emission and relate it to the accretion flow's spin axis and the jet-like feature, using full-Stokes polarization analysis of expanding synchrotron hotspots.
John Bally
University of Colorado Boulder, CO·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Map molecular gas across the entire Milky Way Central Molecular Zone at high resolution with the ALMA telescope as part of the ACES survey, tracing gas motions with more than a dozen molecular tracers.
The school
West Virginia University: 15 labs on PI Pages, $259M a year on research, 201 research doctorates a year.
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