Multimessenger Astrophysics

Many astrophysical phenomena release not just light (electromagnetic radiation), but also gravitational waves and/or elementary particles including neutrinos and cosmic rays. Each of those signals carries different information about the physics of the source, so collecting more than one enables us to have a deeper understanding of the event that produced them. However, it is an enormous challenge for different types of instruments to coordinate simultaneous observations, and to verify that signals have a common source. Projects like AMON and SciMMA help alert the community to potential multi-messenger events so that an observing program can be coordinated as quickly and efficiently as possible.



IGC members who study Multimessenger Astrophysics


NameRoleAffiliationEmailPhoneOffice AddressAffiliated Center(s) Research Topics(s)
Shomik Adhicary Graduate Student Physics sva5823@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 334 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Dark Matter, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Black Holes
Heather Allen Graduate Student Physics heather.allen@psu.edu --- 204 Osmond Laboratory CMA, IGC Multimessenger Astrophysics, Cosmic Rays
Tyler Anderson Faculty Physics tba109@psu.edu +1 814 865 2013 212A Osmond Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Dark Matter, Neutrinos, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Hugo Alberto Ayala Solares Faculty Physics hgayala@psu.edu +1 814 863 7533 206A Osmond Laboratory IGC, CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics
Mukul Bhattacharya Postdoc Astronomy, Physics mmb5946@psu.edu -- 320A Osmond Laboratory CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves, Neutrinos, Cosmic Rays
Maitraya Bhattacharyya Postdoc Physics mbb6217@psu.edu +1 814 863 9605 314 Whitmore Laboratory CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves, Black Holes
W. Niel Brandt Faculty Astronomy, Physics wnbrandt@gmail.com +1 814 865 3509 514A Davey Laboratory CTOC Quasars, Dynamic Universe, Black Holes, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Jose Carpio Dumler Graduate Student Physics jac866@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 -- NONE CMA Neutrinos, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Dark Matter
Koustav Chandra Postdoc Astronomy, Physics kbc5795@psu.edu -- 307 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Black Holes, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Stephane Coutu Faculty Physics, Astronomy sxc56@psu.edu +1 814 865 2015 303H Osmond Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Douglas Cowen Faculty Physics dfc13@psu.edu +1 814 863 5943 303D Osmond Laboratory CMA Dynamic Universe, Neutrinos, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Abhishek Das Graduate Student ICDS, Physics, Astronomy ajd6518@psu.edu -- 321E Thomas Building IGC, CMA Cosmic Rays, Black Holes, Neutrinos, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Dark Matter, Quasars
Michael Eracleous Faculty Astronomy mxe17@psu.edu +1 814 863 6041 414 Davey Laboratory CTOC, CMA Quasars, Black Holes, Dynamic Universe, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Pedro Espino Postdoc Physics ple5069@psu.edu -- 320 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Neutrinos, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Becca Ewing Graduate Student Physics ree55@psu.edu -- 301 Whitmore Laboratory CMA, IGC Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves
Abe Falcone Faculty Astronomy adf15@psu.edu +1 814 863 5364 516 Davey Laboratory CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Cosmic Rays, Dynamic Universe, Quasars
Jacob Fields Graduate Student Physics jmf6719@psu.edu -- 321E Whitmore Laboratory CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves, Black Holes
Derek Fox Faculty Astronomy dbf11@psu.edu +1 814 863 4989 425 Davey Laboratory CMA, CTOC Dynamic Universe, Neutrinos, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Rossella Gamba Postdoc Physics rjg6040@psu.edu N.A. 305 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves
Ish Gupta Graduate Student Physics ishgupta@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 317 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves, Black Holes
Eduardo Gutiérrez Postdoc Physics exg5366@psu.edu +1 814 863 9605 301B Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos, Gravitational Waves, Cosmic Rays
Peter Hammond Postdoc Physics pph5189@psu.edu +1 814 863 9605 307 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Neutrinos, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Chad Hanna Faculty Astronomy, ICDS, Physics crh184@psu.edu +1 814 865 2924 303 Whitmore Laboratory CMA Gravitational Waves, Black Holes, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Dark Matter
Kaeli Hughes Postdoc Astronomy, Physics kaeli@psu.edu +1 6142906343 N/A Davey Laboratory CMA Neutrinos, Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Rachael Huxford Graduate Student Physics reh255@psu.edu -- 317 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Yu Jiang Graduate Student Physics yuj119@psu.edu +1 814 863 0871 -- NONE CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Cosmic Rays
Prathamesh Joshi Graduate Student ICDS, Physics ppj5075@psu.edu -- 301D Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Sanika Samir Khadkikar Graduate Student ICDS, Physics sbk6031@psu.edu -- 321C Whitmore Laboratory CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves
Ali Kheirandish Graduate Student Physics abk5717@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 -- Davey Laboratory CMA Neutrinos, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Dark Matter
Ryan Krebs Graduate Student Physics rjk5416@psu.edu (814) 865-7533 322 Osmond Laboratory CMA, IGC Neutrinos, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Yuexing Li Faculty Astronomy yul20@psu.edu +1 814 867 2291 417A Davey Laboratory CMA, CTOC Black Holes, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Astroinformatics
Niana Mohammed Graduate Student Astronomy nnm5189@psu.edu +1 814 865 0419 537 Davey Laboratory Davey Laboratory CTOC, CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Black Holes, Quasars
Miguel Mostafa Faculty Astronomy, Physics mam1264@psu.edu +1 814 863 8252 517 Thomas Building CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics
Mainak Mukhopadhyay Postdoc Astronomy, Physics mkm7190@psu.edu -- 320L Osmond Laboratory CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves, Neutrinos
Eduardo Munguia Gonzalez Graduate Student Astronomy, ICDS eem5633@psu.edu 814 863 5565 445A Davey Laboratory IGC Multimessenger Astrophysics, Astrostatistics
Kohta Murase Faculty Physics, Astronomy kum26@psu.edu +1 814 863 9594 321B Osmond Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Neutrinos, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves, Dark Matter
Marco Muzio Postdoc Astronomy, Physics msm6428@psu.edu -- 322 Osmond Laboratory CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos, Cosmic Rays
Peter Mészáros Faculty Physics, Astronomy nnp@psu.edu 814-863-4167 504 Davey Laboratory CMA Gravitational Waves, Neutrinos, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Victoria Niu _ Physics wmn5062@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 334 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Dark Matter, Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Alexander Pace Staff Physics aep14@psu.edu +1 814 865 6995 334B Whitmore Laboratory IGC Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves
Surendra Padamata Graduate Student Physics ssp5361@psu.edu -- 322 Osmond Laboratory CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Black Holes, Cosmic Rays, Gravitational Waves, Neutrinos
Tetyana Pitik Faculty Physics tfp5368@psu.edu N.A. 305 Davey Laboratory IGC Multimessenger Astrophysics
Cort Posnansky Graduate Student Physics clp5773@psu.edu +1 814 863 9605 334 Whitmore Laboratory CMA Black Holes, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves
Yi Qiu Graduate Student Physics yiqiu@psu.edu 8142328268 322 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Black Holes, Neutrinos, Multimessenger Astrophysics
David Radice Faculty Astronomy, Physics dur566@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 304 Whitmore Laboratory CMA Black Holes, Neutrinos, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves
Samuele Ronchini Postdoc Astronomy sjs8171@psu.edu 8148657705 - IV Building IGC, CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves
Shio Sakon Graduate Student ICDS, Physics sks6461@psu.edu -- 301D Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Black Holes, Multimessenger Astrophysics
B.S. Sathyaprakash Faculty Physics, Astronomy bss25@psu.edu -- 312 Whitmore Laboratory CMA, CTOC Gravitational Waves, Dark Matter, Black Holes, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Steinn Sigurdsson Faculty Astronomy sxs540@psu.edu +1 814 863 6038 426 Davey Laboratory CMA Neutrinos, Black Holes, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Yujia Wei Graduate Student Astronomy yjw5518@psu.edu 8142803564 440 Davey Laboratory IGC Multimessenger Astrophysics
Kara Whitaker Graduate Student Physics kbw5490@psu.edu -- 114 Osmond Laboratory IGC Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Stephanie Wissel Faculty Astronomy, Physics wissel@psu.edu +1 814 863 9598 303B Osmond Laboratory CTOC, CFT, CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Cosmic Rays, Neutrinos
Chengchao Yuan Graduate Student Physics cxy52@psu.edu +1 814 865 0153 -- NONE CMA Neutrinos, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Cosmic Rays
Andrew Zeolla Graduate Student Physics avz5228@psu.edu 7138709006 204 Osmond Laboratory CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos, Cosmic Rays

News about Multimessenger Astrophysics


Icecube Neutrinos Give First Glimpse Into the Inner Depths of an Active Galaxy

2022-11-09

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For the first time, an international team including Penn State scientists has found evidence of high-energy neutrino emission from Messier 77, also known as NGC 1068, an active galaxy in the constellation of Cetus.

Neutrinos are fundamental particles with no charge and almost no mass, and they rarely interact with other matter. High-energy neutrinos — like those detected here with energies in the teraelectron volt (TeV), or trillion-electron volt, range — can travel for billions of light-years through space without being deflected or absorbed. Thus, while they are extremely difficult to detect, they can provide accurate information about the distant universe, especially when the information the carry can be combined with information from other cosmic signals in what is called “multimessenger” astronomy.

The detection was made by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a massive neutrino telescope encompassing one billion tons of instrumented ice at depths from 1.5 to 2.5 kilometers below Antarctica’s surface near the South Pole.

“IceCube is a veritable discovery machine,” said Doug Cowen, professor of physics and of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State and a long-time IceCube collaborator. “The huge detector has lived up to its promise to launch the brand-new field of high energy neutrino astronomy, and then some, now by giving us glimpses behind a black hole’s black-out curtain of matter. IceCube has once again proved that when humanity points a new instrument at the heavens — starting with Galilleo’s first telescope — our knowledge of the universe around us increases by leaps and bounds.”

This unique telescope, which explores the farthest reaches of our universe using weakly interacting neutrinos instead of light, recorded the first observation of a potential source of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos in 2017. The source of these first observations is the known blazar TXS 0506+056, which is situated in the night sky just off the left shoulder of the constellation Orion and about 4 billion light-years from Earth.

Blazars are very luminous and distant active galaxies with a powerful, relativistic jet of particles pointing directly at us. Unlike NGC 1068, the blazar TXS 0506+056 had not been studied much before the multimessenger detection of neutrinos and high-energy electromagnetic radiation that allowed follow-up measurements by almost 20 telescopes around the world. Now, the observation of neutrino emission from a different type of active galaxy brings us closer to understanding the supermassive black holes powering them.

“One neutrino can single out a source. But only an observation with multiple neutrinos will reveal the obscured core of the most energetic cosmic objects,” said Francis Halzen, a professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the headquarters of the National Science Foundation (NSF)´s Antarctic neutrino facility, and principal investigator of IceCube. “IceCube has accumulated some 80 neutrinos of TeV energy from NGC 1068, which are not yet enough to answer all our questions, but they definitely are the next big step towards the realization of neutrino astronomy.”

The results appear Nov. 4 in the journal Science.

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NASA selects STAR-X for $3M mission concept study

2022-08-30

STAR-X, the Survey and Time-domain Astrophysical Research Explorer, a proposed NASA Medium-Class Explorer (MIDEX) mission that includes Penn State astronomer Niel Brandt, has been selected by the NASA Explorers Program for further study. STAR-X is one of two proposed MIDEX missions that will receive $3 million for a nine-month detailed study of mission requirements. At the end of this period, one of the proposed missions will be selected for a target launch date in 2027-2028 and be eligible for up to $300 million in additional funding.

Comprised of an X-ray telescope, an ultraviolet (UV) telescope, and a responsive spacecraft, STAR-X is designed to conduct time-domain surveys, which study how astronomical objects change with time, and to respond rapidly to transient cosmic events discovered by other observatories such as LIGO, Rubin LSST, the Roman Space Telescope, and the Square Kilometer Array. The mission is led by Principal Investigator William Zhang at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland. Penn State’s Brandt, who is the Verne M. Willaman Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Professor of Physics, is involved in planning the STAR-X cosmic X-ray surveys, active galaxy studies, and fast X-ray transient studies.

“I can’t wait to use STAR-X to investigate the first supermassive black holes and understand mysterious, explosive X-ray transient sources,” said Brandt. “STAR-X will also provide the essential X-ray and UV follow-up capabilities for remarkable cosmic objects discovered by the Rubin LSST in optical light.”

The STAR-X spacecraft would be able to turn rapidly to point a sensitive wide-field X-ray telescope and a UV telescope at transient cosmic sources, such as supernova explosions and feeding supermassive black holes. Deep X-ray surveys would map black holes and hot gas trapped in distant clusters of galaxies; combined with infrared observations from NASA’s upcoming Roman Space Telescope, these observations would trace how massive clusters of galaxies built up over cosmic history.

STAR-X would provide revolutionary capabilities including unprecedented X-ray and UV volumetric survey speed; a unique combination of large field-of-view, large X-ray collecting area, low background, and excellent imaging; increased sensitivity for characterizing diffuse emissions, and increased speed and sensitivity for the discovery of faint X-ray point sources. It fills the gap in X-ray and UV survey coverage, providing simultaneous X-ray and UV observations, which are among the earliest and most uniquely informative astrophysical signals that probe the inner regions around compact objects like black holes and neutron stars, and it complements optical, infrared, and gravitational wave facilities.

The mission’s Deputy Principal Investigator, Ann Hornschemeier, who is also Lab Chief for X-ray Astrophysics at GSFC, earned a Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics at Penn State, mentored by Brandt, in 2002.

“Ann is superb - a bundle of energy, and the right person to push STAR-X to succeed,” said Brandt.

NASA Explorer missions conduct focused scientific investigations and develop instruments that fill scientific gaps between the agency’s larger space science missions. The proposals were competitively selected based on potential science value and feasibility of development plans. The Explorers Program is the oldest continuous NASA program and is designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space using principal investigator-led space science investigations relevant to the Science Mission Directorate’s astrophysics and heliophysics programs.

“NASA’s Explorers Program has a proud tradition of supporting innovative approaches to exceptional science, and these selections hold that same promise,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “From studying the evolution of galaxies to explosive, high-energy events, these proposals are inspiring in their scope and creativity to explore the unknown in our universe.”

Since the launch of Explorer 1 in 1958, which discovered the Earth’s radiation belts, the Explorers Program has launched more than 90 missions, including the Uhuru and Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) missions that led to Nobel prizes for their investigators.

The program is managed by NASA Goddard for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, which conducts a wide variety of research and scientific exploration programs for Earth studies, space weather, the solar system, and the universe. More information can be found at the Explorers Program website (https://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov/).

Further technical details about the observatory are available at (http://star-x.xraydeep.org/observatory/).

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LIGO and Virgo observatories detect neutron star smash-ups

2019-06-01

IGC researchers Cody Messick, Ryan Magee and Alexander Pace provide their perspectives.

Click here for the full article.


The AMON initiative highlighted in the American Institute of Physics Press Release Rise of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics.

2017-10-19

An article entitled “Rise of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics Enabled by Growing Collaborative Infrastructure” by FYI, the science policy news from API, mentions AMON in the context of the recent LIGO/Virgo press event:

“This week’s announcement may also accelerate efforts not built around gravitational wave triggers. The NSF-funded Astrophysical Multi-messenger Observatory Network (AMON) at Penn State University is a computational center designed to correlate “sub-threshold” events, such as neutrino detections and gamma ray influxes, and to relay alerts in the same manner as LIGO alerts. AMON is currently building up its own network of participating institutions.”

Full article here



IGC projects about Multimessenger Astrophysics




About our wordmark
Monica The IGC wordmark was created by Monica Rincon Ramirez, while she was a graduate student at the Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (IGC). Monica enjoys drawing new connections between fundamental theory and observations. Her graduate work includes specialized topics in general relativity, loop quantum gravity, and quantum fields in cosmological backgrounds. In particular, her thesis work focused on finding effective quantum corrections to gravitational phenomena from spinfoams, and applications to cosmology. She received her PhD in 2024.

The wordmark symbolizes the scope and variety of research at the IGC. The base of the image represents quantum gravity, evoking the quantum geometrical picture from spinfoams and loop quantum gravity. These are among the approaches to fundamental questions studied at the Center for Fundamental Theory. The middle of the image represents the Center for Theoretical and Observational Cosmology by galaxies embedded in a smooth surface, characteristic of spacetime in general relativity and the much larger physical scales studied in cosmology. Finally, at the top, the surface curves to an extreme, representing a supermassive black hole accompanied by an energetic jet. These elements depict an active galactic nucleus, inspired by Centaurus A. Just to the right, a pair of black holes approaches merger. This top portion of the wordmark represents the Center for Multimessenger Astrophysics, which specializes in the study of high-energy phenomena in the universe.