Galaxy Formation, Intergalactic Medium, Active Galactic Nuclei, Galaxy-Black Hole Coevolution, Galaxy Clusters, Early Universe, Dark Matter
Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MSSL/R.Soria et al, Optical: AURA/Gemini OBs
The most obvious large structures in the Universe are the galaxies, which over the span of cosmic time have been the nexus for both the evolution of stars and large-scale structure in the Universe. CIERA researchers are engaged in understanding both the evolution of the galaxies and the environments they are embedded in, as well as the stellar populations they are comprised of and the supermassive black holes they host.
Research at CIERA
CIERA researchers work on understanding the origins of structure in the Universe. Professor Faucher-Giguère’s group develops sophisticated cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy formation. The simulations are used to answer a wide variety of science questions, including how star formation is regulated in galaxies, how galaxies interact with the circum-galactic medium and the intergalactic medium, and how galaxies and their black holes co-evolve.
Opportunities
Deadline: 10:59pm, January 31, 2025
Our Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program provides students with the opportunity to pursue an astrophysics-based interdisciplinary research project in collaboration with Northwestern University faculty in: Astronomy Applied Math Chemistry Earth and Planetary Science (EPS) Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (CS) and/or Physics. The program includes computer programming and science communication workshops, research talks, educational
Deadline: 11:59pm, February 1, 2025
Funded by an educational grant awarded by NASA to Northwestern University through the Illinois Space Grant Consortium, Northwestern offers a College Summer Research Program for outstanding undergraduates. The program provides an opportunity for college students to work with a professor in one of several areas of space sciences and astrophysics. It is open to students
Deadline: 11:59pm, February 1, 2025
Code/Astro is a week-long astronomy software development workshop motivated by the growing usage of open-source software in astronomical research. The goal of this program is to teach participants fundamental software engineering skills and best practices for building sustainable open-source packages for astronomy applications. During the workshop, participants will obtain hands-on experience with software engineering by
Deadline: 11:59pm, March 3, 2025
REACH (Research Experiences in Astronomy at CIERA for High School Students) is a highly interactive, in-person 3-week program (with an optional 3-week extension) that provides high school students experience with astronomy research in an atmosphere of team-style learning, hands-on training, and mentorship from professional scientists. Students enrolled in the program engage in astronomy research projects with
Deadline: 11:59pm, December 31, 2025
CIERA supports a wide range of interdisciplinary projects focused on research, education, and public outreach in Astrophysics. Our faculty and postdocs work on projects that couple astronomy and astrophysics analysis with many other disciplines: computer science, applied math, planetary sciences, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, data science, science education, and more. Many have hired/mentored undergraduate researchers
News
Gallery
2024 CIERA public lecture – “The Jazz of Physics” with Stephon Alexander
2024 CIERA public lecture – “The Jazz of Physics” with Stephon Alexander
On November 14, over 300 people packed Northwestern University’s Lutkin Hall to join Professor Stephon Alexander in a celebration of The Jazz of Physics for CIERA’s 15th anniversary public lecture. Over 100 others joined the livestream for an evening that began with a live jazz performance from the Star Eyes Initiative, followed by Prof. Alexander’s public lecture, and concluded with a
- Event,
- Outreach,
- Interdisciplinary
Dense, swirling winds help supermassive black holes grow
Dense, swirling winds help supermassive black holes grow
By studying nearby galaxy ESO320-G030, a team of international astronomers led by CIERA Postdoctoral Fellow Mark Gorski has discovered extremely dense and powerful rotating, magnetic winds help the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole grow. This image, created by CIERA Professor Aaron Geller, depicts this phenomenon. The process is strikingly similar to the birth of new
M. D. Gorski/Aaron M. Geller
- Science
Andromeda in 5 minutes
Andromeda in 5 minutes
This is a single photo of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) taken by CIERA graduate student Imran Sultan from the darkest skies in America. Astrophotographers typically “stack” hundreds of photos together to reveal faint detail in images, but the sky here was so dark that just one five minute exposure was enough. Sultan shot the photo
Imran Sultan/Northwestern/CIERA
- Science
M81 and M82
M81 and M82
In our sky, close to the handle of the Big Dipper are the two galaxies M81 (Bode’s Galaxy, right) and M82 (Cigar Galaxy, left). These are two of the closest galaxies to our own Milky Way and two of the brightest galaxies in our sky that can be observed with amateur telescopes. Photographer and CIERA
Imran Sultan/Northwestern/CIERA
- Science
Dance of fireflies in the core of the Milky Way
Dance of fireflies in the core of the Milky Way
While visiting a dark sky park during mid June of 2023 to see the Milky Way core rise in the summer night sky, photographer and CIERA graduate student Imran Sultan got a rare treat: an incalculable number of fireflies had recently emerged in the central Illinois forest preserve. The dance of the terrestrial and celestial
Imran Sultan/Northwestern/CIERA
- Science
‘Blob-like’ home of farthest-known fast radio burst is collection of seven galaxies
‘Blob-like’ home of farthest-known fast radio burst is collection of seven galaxies
A Hubble Space Telescope image of the host galaxy of an exceptionally powerful fast radio burst, FRB 20220610A. In summer 2022, astronomers detected the most powerful fast radio burst (FRB) ever observed. And coming from a location that dates halfway back to the Big Bang, it also was the farthest known FRB spotted to date.
NASA, ESA, STScI, Alexa Gordon (Northwestern)
- Science
People
Core Faculty
Kari Frank
Director of Operations of CIERA, Research Assistant Professor
Shane L. Larson
Research Professor, Associate Director of CIERA
Associate Faculty
External Faculty
Sarah Wellons
Visiting Scholar, Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Wesleyan
Postdocs
Graduate Students
NU SkAI Personnel