Chris worked on the astrophysics of very compact stars at the end of their lives: neutron stars and black holes. Their motion in binaries and emission of gravitational radiation allows the study of exotic forms of matter and gravity at scales which are not accessible in a laboratory on Earth. He researched and developed new techniques to both discover the quiet whisper of gravitational-wave signals in noisy data as well as extract their properties. He was also a leader in interpreting the gravitational-wave discoveries in the context of how those binaries form, answering questions about the physics and dynamics of stars which are ten or a hundred times the mass of the Sun and their cosmic environments.
Dr. Chris Pankow was a CIERA Postdoc 2015 – 2019.
Following his time at CIERA, Dr.Pankow became a Data Scientist II at OpenX.
