Welcome to my homepage! I am an Associate Professor at the
Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and
Space Research, part of the Department
of Physics at MIT. I work on the
physical properties and processes associated with the lowest mass stars
and brown dwarfs.
I am originally from Buffalo, NY
(where they make realBuffalo Wings),
but spent much of the last 15 years in southern California, where I
received my B.S. in Physics
from UCSD and my M.S. and Ph.D.
in Physics from Caltech.
What's New?
The Astrofacts! website goes live! Inspired by the International Year of Astronomy and in a partnership with Maui youth radio station radiOpio (KOPO-LP 89.5 FM), we've developed a series of radio spots aimed at present astronomy facts in a fun way, that will be playing all summer long in Maui and streaming online here. Charae' Tongg, a rising junior at Seabury Hall, is writing, editing, producing and starring in the radio spots, along with other kids and staff at the Paia Youth and Cultural Center.
(June 2009)
The "wild rides" of ultracool subdwarfs announced at the 214th American Astronomical Society Meeting in Pasadena, CA. Based in part on calculations made by MIT graduate student Robyn Sanderson, we find a remarkable diversity in the Galactic orbits of ultracool subdwarfs, including one source that may be an extragalactic interloper. See the associated press release and the Youtube video! (June 2009)
Graduate student Jackie Faherty, Postdoctoral Researcher Andrew West and I attended the 2009 joint meeting of the National Society of Black Physicists and National Society of Hispanic Physicists in Nashville, TN. We were part of a contingent of 25 MIT faculty, researchers, graduate students and undergraduate students (including three student award winners!) who participated in discussions on diversity and science. Photos from the event are now online. (February 2009)
We've identified the dimmest pair of brown dwarfs, a source known as 2MASS 0939-2448, using a combination of ground-based data and spectroscopy from the Spitzer Space Telescope. The as-yet unresolved pair are the first to break the millionth of a solar luminosity brightness limit. See the associated ApJ
Letter. (December 2008)
Research
My astrophysical research focuses on the observational study of
low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, specifically the properties of
L and T dwarfs and
Ultracool Subdwarfs.
I am particularly interested in characterizing the physical
properties of the lowest luminosity stars,
magnetic activity, multiplicity,
and population statistics. My work incorporates
many observational tools, including optical and infrared spectroscopy, high resolution imaging
(including traditional and
laser guide star adaptive optics),
radio astronomy, space-based
(HST &
Spitzer) imaging, and photometric monitoring.
Find out more on my research page.
Adam J. Burgasser
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 37-664B
Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
1 (617) 452 5113
ajb [at] mit [dot] edu
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