Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology

Join us! @westvirginiau.bsky.social @wvuplanetarium.bsky.social @greenbankobservatory.org.web.brid.gy

Backyard Radio Astronomy flyer with a headshot of speaker, Kevin Bandura and a telescope in foreground.

WVUniverse presents "Backyard Radio Astronomy"- Audiences will learn how to build their own small radio telescope 🔭& make your own radio observations of our Milky Way galaxy! All are welcome to join us in the WVU Planetarium dome for this free talk perfect for all ages. gwac.wvu.edu/blog/2026/03...

Headshot of Swarali Patil with Gravitational Waves and Comsology wordmark.

Mind the (Detection) Gap!
That dark void in our frame of the sky that blocks signals of Fast Radio Bursts? Swarali Patil offers new information and ground breaking details on this dark patch of the sky better known as the detection gap or Zone of Avoidance.
gwac.wvu.edu/blog/2026/02...

@astrokatie.com is always amazing.

The Physics & Astronomy Graduate Student Organization (PAGSO) is hosting the annual Pie a Professor event.
The participating faculty members who receive the most donations in their name will be pied in the face with whipped cream!
Anyone can donate.
LET'S DO THIS: physics.wvu.edu/pie-a-profes...

We can do better than this!
Pie a Professor Countdown is on! Current rankings: Maura McLaughlin $220, Thomas Steinberger $59.50, Earl Scime $59,Mikel Holcomb, $21.50, Emmanuel Fonseca $21, Duncan Lorimer $20
We need to get Duncan & Emmanuel to the top. Donate: physics.wvu.edu/pie-a-profes...

We agree, @rami.spaceaustralia.com! Percy no longer needs to constantly check their printed Mapquest directions! 😉🤩

Stay tuned to Radio YZ Ceti: Isn’t that a magnetic conversation between star and planet? Astronomers have tuned their radio telescopes to YZ Ceti, and it might be crackling with a magnetic conversation of a star and its planet. Is this a breakthrough detection, or just stellar noise playi...

From Elise Koo: Astronomers have tuned their radio telescopes to YZ Ceti, and it might be crackling with a magnetic conversation of a star and its planet. Is this a breakthrough detection, or just stellar noise playing tricks on us? ⚛️ 🔭 ☄️ 🧪
astrobites.org/2026/02/24/radio_yz_ceti/

Top astrophysicist Duncan Lorimer says ‘universe is expanding’, lauds role of 2 Indians in studies on fast radio burst | India News - The Times of India India News: NEW DELHI: World-renowned astrophysicist Prof Duncan Lorimer, who led the discovery of the first Fast Radio Burst (FRB) as among the brightest and mos.

World-renowned astrophysicist Prof Duncan Lorimer states the "universe is expanding" and that with "new and improved telescopes coming up in the US and Canada, we can find out more deep mysteries of this universe."

Read more at:
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/...

#FastRadioBurst

Swarali Patil headshot

Artist's illustration of a Fast Radio Burst signal reaching Earth.

"Our study provides first clear observational evidence that FRBs are not observable in a patch of the sky due to the structure of our galaxy. With this knowledge, we use FRBs as a new tool to probe the Milky Way's structure.."
🌌https://gwac.wvu.edu/blog/2026/02/19/mind-the-detection-gap 🌌

Swarali Patil headshot

Planck EM map (Planck Collaboration et al. 2016) in Galactic coordinates centered at l = 80°, b = 0° (top) and l = 180°, b = 0° (bottom).

🌌Mind the (Detection) Gap! ✨

What if there was a dark void in our frame of the sky that blocked the signals of Fast Radio Bursts?

A new study, led by graduate student Swarali Patil, discovers new details on the dark patch of the sky better known as the detection gap.
gwac.wvu.edu/blog/2026/02...

A spiral galaxy, seen tilted diagonally. It has a blue-white, glowing spot at its core. Its oval-shaped disc glows faintly blue throughout with light from its many stars. The disc is filled with waves and strands of bright red dust that swirl around the core. At places there are holes torn in the dust, while elsewhere it forms dense clumps that glow orange. Several tiny, distant galaxies appear across the background.

🆕 Our NASA/CSA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope image of the month features the stellar lifecycle in a nearby spiral galaxy named NGC 5134 🌌🧪🔭

🔗 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2026/02/The_stellar_lifecycle_in_a_nearby_spiral

@stsci.edu @science.esa.int

OPPORTUNITY: The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD, is searching for a Chief Engineer to deliver on the our goals and strategies to ensure that technical solutions are to be implemented to meet the current and future needs of all STScI missions and project: https://bit.ly/4c0SuRd

WOW! 24000 hours of survey time on GBT and a new pulsar. Congrats-
@westvirginiau.bsky.social @wvuphysastro.bsky.social

In our February WVUniverse talk, Katy Goodrich, PhD, will guide the audience in and around the dance of space plasma and explore the movement from our solar system and beyond.

Come and see how they move and the surprising ways it affects us all here on Earth!
Free and open to all ages. 💥💫

E-News | WVU researcher dreams of what’s possible in deep space In the Times West Virginian, Sean McWilliams dives into the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

In the Times West Virginian, Sean McWilliams dives into the possibility of extraterrestrial life-

Read it here:
enews.wvu.edu/articles/202...
@westvirginiau.bsky.social
@wvuphysastro.bsky.social
@wvuplanetarium.bsky.social

Burke-Spolaor commented on the award,"I'm glad but not surprised to hear about Reshma's success with the competitive Marie Curie Fellowship. During her time at WVU, she was able to successfully publish an impressive range of work in radio transients."
Congratulations, Reshma! We are so proud of you.

Headshot of Reshma Thomas

Reshma worked in the lab of Dr. Sarah Burke-Spolaor and focused her research on Fast Radio Bursts, among many other areas of research.
@westvirginiau.bsky.social #FastRadioBursts

Congratulations to Reshma Anna Thomas, on being awarded a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue her research at the University of Amsterdam.
Thomas is a former graduate student in the Center and WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy, graduating with her PhD in 2024.

Flyer with plasma bursts in background with talk details listed. "Twist, Criss Cross and Freeze! How Plasma Dances through Space" February 27th, 6:30 PM, at the WVU Planetarium, Floor PL in White Hall, Morgantown, WV. Free and open to all ages.

WVUniverse explores the dance of space plasma! Mark your calendars for our next talk, featuring Prof. Katy Goodrich. Space is filled with plasma moving about in mysterious ways.
Come and see how they move and the surprising ways it affects us all here on Earth.
gwac.wvu.edu/blog/2026/02...

Podcast | The Quantum Quest | Prof. Duncan Lorimer, FRS, West Virginia University, USA | Episode 15 YouTube video by Regional Science Centre Bhopal

While visiting India on a trip of many invited guest lectures, Prof. Duncan Lorimer, FRS, was featured on the podcast, The Quantum Quest, Exploring the Inner Core, hosted by Regional Science Centre, Bhopal.
💫"The Brightest Pulses in the Universe"🎆
Watch here:
youtu.be/xblVNxjlnlw?...

Thanks to everyone who came out last night to explore solar storms with us in the WVU Planetarium! Special thanks to our featured speaker, Dr. Giulia Murtas. 🌞

See you at our next talk, February 27th, 6:30PM where we will explore space plasma with Dr. Katy Goodrich. 💥

📸 Emmanuel Fonseca

Join us tonight for our first talk of the year! Free and open to all. We will be in the WVU Planetarium, so take the elevator up to PL in White Hall.
@westvirginiau.bsky.social @wvuplanetarium.bsky.social @wvuphysastro.bsky.social

Come out to the WVU Planetarium, floor PL in White Hall on campus to explore solar storms and things explosive! Free and open to all ages. Bring the whole family.
@westvirginiau.bsky.social @wvuphysastro.bsky.social @wvuplanetarium.bsky.social

Explosive energy in the background with headshot of speaker, Dr. Giulia Murtas.

Solar flares, coronal mass ejections, spicules, erupting filaments - have one thing in common: magnetic field lines snap like uncooked spaghetti, releasing huge amounts of energy, called magnetic reconnection. Join us this Friday in the WVU Planetarium with Dr. Giulia Murtas. bit.ly/4qOtjpz

Feed the Fire, Fade the Metals Are cosmic clumps “homegrown”, or fueled by fresh inflow? Today’s authors find that star-forming clumps are usually more metal-poor than the disks around them.

From Niloofar Sharei @astroneal.bsky.social : Are cosmic clumps “homegrown”, or fueled by fresh inflow? Today’s authors find that star-forming clumps are usually more metal-poor than the disks around them. ⚛️ 🔭 ☄️ 🧪
astrobites.org/2026/01/27/f...

Undergraduates, stop scrolling-Join us this summer for PAID research opportunities in space plasma physics, magnetic reconnection, pulsars, supernova remnants, and more! Here is a peek from last year: gwac.wvu.edu/2025-plastro...
Apply today! We hope to see you this summer.
#Research #Astronomy

Artist's illustration of a Fast Radio Burst with headshot of Graham Doskoch.

Graham Doskoch is on a collaborative team leading The Petabyte Project, searching for new details on mysterious Fast Radio Bursts. “Maybe we will find something that has previously gone undetected.” 🌟
gwac.wvu.edu/.../advancin....
#FastRadioBursts
@astrohde.bsky.social

@westvirginiau.bsky.social

Meet the AAS Keynote Speakers: Dr Maura McLaughlin Today we interview Dr. Maura McLaughlin, who is a professor at West Virginia University and one of this year's #AAS247 Plenary speakers!

...Dr. Maura McLaughlin talk about the NANOGrav project! #AAS247
astrobites.org/2026/01/07/m...

More aurora tonight at Loch Calder, far north of Scotland