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Peter Garnavich

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Peter Garnavich
Born
Peter Marcus Garnavich

United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Maryland (1980), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1983), University of Washington (1991)
SpouseLara Arielle Phillips
AwardsAmerican Physical Society (2007), Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2007), American Association for the Advancement of Science (2012), Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2015), American Astronomical Society (2024)
Scientific career
InstitutionsDominion Astrophysical Observatory (1992-1995), Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (1995-1999), University of Notre Dame (2000-present)
ThesisThe stellar angular correlation : clues to wide binary star properties (1991)
Doctoral advisorBruce Margon
Websitehttps://physics.nd.edu/people/peter-garnavich/

Peter M. Garnavich is a faculty member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Notre Dame. His primary research area is the study of supernovae and their diversity.[1] He has also studied gamma ray bursts and cataclysmic variable stars.[2] Garnavich is a member of a supernova search team that contributed to the discovery of dark energy in 1998.[3] At Notre Dame, Garnavich has developed and participated in collaborations using the Spitzer Space Telescope,[4] the Large Binocular Telescope,[5] the Hubble Space Telescope,[6] and the Kepler Space Telescope.[7] He was named a fellow of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in 2024.[2]

Early life & education[edit]

Garnavich pursued amateur astronomy while in high school. He observed and photographed Nova Cygni 1975 using Kodak Tri-X Pan emulsion film, and his image was one of only two pre-discovery observations of the nova.[8]

Garnavich earned a bachelor of science in astronomy from the University of Maryland in 1980, a master of science in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1983, and a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Washington in 1991.[1]

Career & research[edit]

Garnavich has been a co-author on over 900 papers, a first author on over 200 papers, and has an h-index of 99 according to Google Scholar.[9]

Garnavich served as a research associate at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI) from 1983–1985.[1] He worked with Barry Lasker on the Guide Star Catalog[10] for the Hubble Space Telescope.[11]

Following the completion of his Ph.D., Garnavich was a postdoctoral fellow at Dominion Astrophysical Observatory from 1992–1995.[1] He used the 72-inch Plaskett telescope to measure the age and distance of open star cluster NGC 6791.[12] Garnavich also was able to obtain spectra of bright supernova SN 1993J located in nearby galaxy M81.[13]

Garnavich also was a fellow at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian from 1995–1999. At Harvard, he was a key member of the High-Z Supernova Search Team that discovered the acceleration of the expansion of the universe. That discovery was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, and the prize was given to High-Z team leader Brian Schmidt and team member Adam Reiss. Also receiving the prize was Saul Perlmutter of the Supernova Cosmology Project.[3]

Also while at the Center for Astrophysics, Garnavich began to collaborate with Kris Stanek to study the origin of enigmatic gamma ray bursts (GRB). These distant explosions, among the most powerful in the universe, were thought to be linked to supernovae, but confirmation of this relationship was needed. Garnavich and Stanek detected features attributed to a supernova in the spectrum of "nearby" (6-billion light years) gamma ray burst GRB 011121 which was observed in 2001. Their results linked gamma ray bursts with supernovae.[14] In 2005, after joining the faculty of the University of Notre Dame, Garnavich used the Spitzer Space Telescope to measure the heat (afterglow) in far-infrared of another gamma ray burst, GRB 050525a.[4]

In 2000, Garnavich joined the University of Notre Dame[15] as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2003. In 2008, he earned the rank of full professor. Garnavich was appointed chair of the Department of Physics in 2017.[1] In 2022, the department was officially named the Department of Physics and Astronomy.[16] The current chair of the department is Morten Eskildsen.[17]

At Notre Dame, Garnavich continued his supernova and cosmology research. As a member of the ESSENCE Supernova Survey collaboration, Garnavich obtained the spectra and distances of 102 type 1a supernovae.[18] Some of these data were used to estimate the value of the "dark energy equation of state parameter" (w), a measure of the density of dark energy in an expanding universe.[19][20]

Using data from the SDSS-II Supernova Survey, Garnavich was able to link type 1a supernova rates with galaxy characteristics. This work involved comparing the early behavior of supernova light curves with models of the progenitor stars.[21] The study of supernova rise times led to Brian Hayden's Ph.D. dissertation.[22]

Charlotte M. Wood of Iowa State University[23] and Benjamin Rose of Baylor University[24] earned their PhDs working under Garnavich at the University of Notre Dame in the field of supernova cosmology.[25] Wood's dissertation concerned type 1a supernovae in elliptical galaxies and the use of supernovae in measuring the Hubble constant.[26] Benjamin Rose's dissertation addressed "systematic biases of Type Ia supernova distances used in observational cosmology".[24]

Garnavich and other researchers utilized the famous planet hunting Kepler Space Telescope (KST) as an instrument to measure extragalactic supernovae. After its primary planet hunting mission ended, the KST concentrated its gaze on around 500 distant galaxies and collected data every 30 minutes.[7] This setup enabled the first ever capture of a type II supernova shock wave.[27]

Using the Large Binocular Telescope, Garnavich and Colin Littlefield's observations of cataclysmic variable stars revealed the second only known "propellor star." The first known such star, AE Aquarii, consists of a white dwarf star orbiting a red giant companion. Normally in such systems, material drawn off of the red giant's atmosphere becomes deposited onto the white dwarf. With propellor stars, the material is flung into space by the rotation of the white dwarf's magnetic field and appears as a gaseous prominence.[5] This second-known propellor star is named LAMOST J024048.51+195226.9 (J0240 for short).[28] Material flung from J0240 is moving at 1% of the speed of light.[5]

Garnavich has been recognized for his instruction of student researchers.[2] In 2012, Notre Dame law student Colin Littlefield published a paper in The Astronomical Journal[29] detailing the discovery of WR 142b, a rare Wolf-Rayet star. Co-authors of the paper include Garnavich and Terrig Rettig of Notre Dame.[30] Under Garnavich's tutelage, in 2024 Notre Dame undergraduate McKenna Leichty discovered a potential planet within the catclysmic variable star system V808 Aurigae.[31][32] Leichty used the 0.8-meter Krizmanich Telescope[33] located in an observatory on the top of Notre Dame's Jordan Hall of Science.[32]

Awards & recognition[edit]

In 1992, at the Dominion Astrophiscial Observatory, Garnavich obtained a Plaskett Fellowship[34] which is granted to recent outstanding doctoral graduates in astrophysics.[35]

Garnavich is a member of the American Physical Society (APS).[36]

For his work with the High-Z Supernova Search Team, Garnavich was awarded the Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2007) and the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2015).[1]

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) elected Garnavich as a physics fellow in 2012.[37]

Garnavich has helped the Space Telescope Science Institute to implement the "Working Group for Anonymizing Proposal Reviews" to increase the number of women and younger researchers who have been granted time to use the Hubble Space Telescope. For this work, Garnavich was awarded the a NASA Silver Achievement Award in 2020.[38]

In 2024, Garnavich was named a fellow of the American Astronomical Society. Along with research in supernovae, gamma ray bursts, and cataclysmic variable stars, he was also recognized for his "leadership in observational collaborations" and "tireless devotion to students and the astronomical community."[2]

Discovered in 1997, asteroid 1997 SJ34 was named 31139 Garnavich in honor of Peter Garnavich. The name was suggested by Czech amateur astronomer K. Hornoch. 31139 Garnavich is a 1.9 km wide main-belt asteroid.[39]

Sites of interest[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Peter Garnavich appointed chair of the Department of Physics
  2. ^ a b c d "AAS Names 21 New Fellows for 2024". aas.org. Feb 1, 2024. Retrieved Jun 4, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ a b Stowe, Gene (2011-10-05). "Nobel winners' team that discovered accelerating universe included Garnavich". College of Science. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  4. ^ a b "Gamma-Ray Burst 050525a". www.spitzer.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  5. ^ a b c Sieff, Jessica (2021-06-07). "Scientists identify a rare magnetic propeller in a binary star system". Notre Dame News. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
  6. ^ Gilroy, William G. (2010-03-15). "Physicist Garnavich will play key role in largest Hubble project". Notre Dame News. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
  7. ^ a b https://www.jpl.nasa.gov. "NASA's Kepler Catches Early Flash of an Exploding Star". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Retrieved 2024-06-11. {{cite web}}: External link in |last= (help)
  8. ^ Liller, W.; Shao, C. Y.; Mayer, B.; Garnavich, P.; Harbrecht, R. P.; Wallentine, D.; Simmons, K.; Maley, P. (1975-10-01). "Nova Cygni 1975". International Astronomical Union Circular. 2848: 4. ISSN 0081-0304.
  9. ^ "Peter Garnavich". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  10. ^ Lasker, Barry M.; Garnavich, Peter M.; Reynolds, Anne P. (1987-09-01). "On the Distribution of Colors for Stars in the Ninth to Fifteenth Magnitude Range: Statistics and Implications for Galactic Structure". The Astrophysical Journal. 320: 502. doi:10.1086/165568. ISSN 0004-637X.
  11. ^ "GSC - HST Guide Star Catalog, Version 1.2". heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  12. ^ "1994AJ....107.1097G Page 1097". adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  13. ^ Garnavich, P.; Challis, P.; Kirshner, R.; Wells, L.; Berlind, P. (1995-11-01). "Supernova 1993J in NGC 3031". International Astronomical Union Circular. 6257: 1. ISSN 0081-0304.
  14. ^ "Gamma ray bursts tied to supernovae". New Scientist. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  15. ^ Newswire, AScribe (2000-10-11). "Team Captures Shape of Gamma-Ray Blast". Notre Dame News. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  16. ^ Dame, Marketing Communications: Web | University of Notre. "History of Physics and Astronomy at Notre Dame". Department of Physics and Astronomy. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  17. ^ Dame, Marketing Communications: Web | University of Notre. "Morten Eskildsen". Department of Physics and Astronomy. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  18. ^ Miknaitis, G.; Pignata, G.; Rest, A.; Wood-Vasey, W. M.; Blondin, S.; Challis, P.; Smith, R. C.; Stubbs, C. W.; Suntzeff, N. B.; Foley, R. J.; Matheson, T.; Tonry, J. L.; Aguilera, C.; Blackman, J. W.; Becker, A. C. (2007-09-01). "The ESSENCE Supernova Survey: Survey Optimization, Observations, and Supernova Photometry". The Astrophysical Journal. 666: 674–693. doi:10.1086/519986. ISSN 0004-637X.
  19. ^ Wood-Vasey, W. M.; Miknaitis, G.; Stubbs, C. W.; Jha, S.; Riess, A. G.; Garnavich, P. M.; Kirshner, R. P.; Aguilera, C.; Becker, A. C.; Blackman, J. W.; Blondin, S.; Challis, P.; Clocchiatti, A.; Conley, A.; Covarrubias, R. (2007-09-10). "Observational Constraints on the Nature of the Dark Energy: First Cosmological Results from the ESSENCE Supernova Survey". The Astrophysical Journal. 666 (2): 694–715. doi:10.1086/518642. ISSN 0004-637X.
  20. ^ "The dark energy equation of state – Sean Carroll". Retrieved 2024-06-11.
  21. ^ Smith, Mathew; Nichol, Robert C.; Dilday, Benjamin; Marriner, John; Kessler, Richard; Bassett, Bruce; Cinabro, David; Frieman, Joshua; Garnavich, Peter; Jha, Saurabh W.; Lampeitl, Hubert; Sako, Masao; Schneider, Donald P.; Sollerman, Jesper (Jul 2012). "THE SDSS-II SUPERNOVA SURVEY: PARAMETERIZING THE TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA RATE AS A FUNCTION OF HOST GALAXY PROPERTIES". The Astrophysical Journal. 755 (1): 61. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/755/1/61. ISSN 0004-637X.
  22. ^ Hayden, Brian T (2013). Better Understanding Type Ia Supernovae With the Goal of Making Them More Reliable Distance Indicators. University of Notre Dame. Thesis. https://doi.org/10.7274/qj72p556m8h
  23. ^ "Charlotte M. Wood". Department of Physics and Astronomy. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  24. ^ a b "Dr. Benjamin Rose". Baylor University Department of Physics. Retrieved Jun 10, 2024.
  25. ^ "Physics Tree - Peter Garnavich Family Tree". academictree.org. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  26. ^ "Charlotte M. Wood CV" (PDF). https://www.physastro.iastate.edu. Retrieved Jun 11, 2024. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  27. ^ Garnavich, P. M.; Tucker, B. E.; Rest, A.; Shaya, E. J.; Olling, R. P.; Kasen, D.; Villar, A. (2016-03-20). "Shock Breakout and Early Light Curves of Type II-P Supernovae Observed with Kepler". The Astrophysical Journal. 820 (1): 23. doi:10.3847/0004-637X/820/1/23. ISSN 0004-637X.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  28. ^ "SIMBAD query result". simbad.u-strasbg.fr. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
  29. ^ Littlefield, Colin; Garnavich, Peter; Marion, G. H. “Howie”; Vinkó, József; McClelland, Colin; Rettig, Terrence; Wheeler, J. Craig (May 2012). "DISCOVERY OF A WOLF–RAYET STAR THROUGH DETECTION OF ITS PHOTOMETRIC VARIABILITY". The Astronomical Journal. 143 (6): 136. arXiv:1111.3367. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/143/6/136. ISSN 1538-3881.
  30. ^ Goethals, Shelly (2012-05-02). "Notre Dame student discovers rare star". Department of Physics and Astronomy. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  31. ^ Leichty, McKenna; Garnavich, Peter; Littlefield, Colin; Schwope, Axel; Kurpas, Jan; Mason, Paul A.; Beuerman, Klaus (Feb 28, 2024). "An Eccentric Planet Orbiting the Polar V808 Aurigae". arXiv. arXiv:2402.16959.
  32. ^ a b Schlehuber, Madeline (2024-04-22). "Undergraduate McKenna Leichty discovers probable planet with help from Krizmanich Telescope atop Jordan Hall". College of Science. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  33. ^ Gilroy, William G. (2013-09-24). "Notre Dame installs new telescope on Jordan Hall". Notre Dame News. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  34. ^ Canada, National Research Council (2019-03-21). "Plaskett Fellowship". nrc.canada.ca. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  35. ^ Canada, National Research Council (2019-03-21). "Plaskett Fellows, 1975 to present". nrc.canada.ca. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  36. ^ Dame, Marketing Communications: Web | University of Notre. "Peter Garnavich". Department of Physics and Astronomy. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  37. ^ "AAAS Members Elected as Fellows". aaas.org. Nov 30, 2012. Retrieved Jun 4, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  38. ^ McCool, Deanna Csomo (2020-10-30). "Garnavich receives NASA award for work on anonymous proposal team". College of Science. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  39. ^ "Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
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