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Cosmic Surveys

Cosmic Surveys

Cosmological surveys map out the distribution of matter in the universe. Some surveys may target a particular type of object by looking for a very particular spectral signal. For example, the HETDEX survey is designed to find a class of galaxies, Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters, at a time when the universe was about 10-11 billion years younger than it is today. By precisely measuring how those galaxies are receding from us, HETDEX will provide a new constraint on the expansion rate of the universe and the role of dark energy in the past.

Other surveys collect light across a wider range of frequencies. For example, the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will take optical images of a large fraction of the sky, nearly every night. LSST will detect nearly 4 billion galaxies that can be measured so precisely that distortions in galaxy shapes due to gravity can be used, statistically, to map out how both dark and luminous matter are distributed in the Universe. Because LSST will image the same part of the sky so often, it will also capture the variations of light emitted by objects that are changing rapidly, allowing studies of the dynamic universe.

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Name Role Affiliations Email Phone Office Centers Research topics
Robin Ciardullo Robin Ciardullo Faculty Astronomy rbc3@psu.edu +1 814 865 6601 525 Davey Laboratory CMA, CTOC Cosmic Surveys
Olivia Curtis Olivia Curtis Postdoc Astronomy ocurtis@psu.edu N/A 417A Davey Laboratory IGC Cosmic Surveys
Caryl Gronwall Caryl Gronwall Faculty Astronomy cag18@psu.edu +1 814 865 2918 417B Davey Laboratory CMA, CTOC Astrostatistics, Cosmic Surveys
Joel Leja Joel Leja Faculty Astronomy, ICDS jql6565@psu.edu +1 814 865 0418 515 Davey Laboratory CTOC Cosmic Surveys
Greg Lukens Greg Lukens Graduate Student Astronomy gmlukens@psu.edu +1 814 865 0419 441 Davey Laboratory CTOC Cosmic Surveys
Ella Newhouse Ella Newhouse Undergraduate Student Astronomy ejn5324@psu.edu 412-699-6700 N/A CTOC Cosmic Surveys
Donald Schneider Donald Schneider Faculty Astronomy dps7@psu.edu +1 814 863 9554 508 Davey Laboratory CTOC Black Holes, Cosmic Surveys
Sarah Shandera Sarah Shandera Faculty Physics ses47@psu.edu +1 814 863 9595 303A Whitmore Laboratory CFT Black Holes, Cosmic Surveys, Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves, Quantum Universe
Wei Leong Tee Wei Leong Tee Postdoc Astronomy wmt5159@psu.edu (814) 865-0418 R115 Davey Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Cosmic Surveys, Quasars
Bingjie Wang Bingjie Wang Postdoc Astronomy, ICDS bwang@psu.edu +1 814 865 0418 520 Davey Laboratory IGC Cosmic Surveys
Zhenyuan Wang Zhenyuan Wang Graduate Student zzw173@psu.edu +1 814 865 0419 532 C Davey Laboratory CTOC Cosmic Surveys
Name Role Affiliations Email Phone Office Centers Research topics
Will Bowman Will Bowman Graduate Student Astronomy bowman@psu.edu +1 814 863 9342 520 Davey Laboratory IGC Cosmic Surveys

News about Cosmic Surveys

IGC Grad Students Kallan Berglund and Mary Ogborn win 2023 Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium Graduate Research Fellowships from NASA
July 11, 2023 priority
IGC Grad Students Kallan Berglund and Mary Ogborn win 2023 Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium Graduate Research Fellowships from NASA
Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium Graduate Research Fellowships annually provides a one-year fellowship of $5,000 to outstanding Penn State students pursuing graduate study leading to masters …
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November 30, 2022 priority outreach
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Bright Light from Early Universe 'Opens New Chapter in Astronomy'
November 21, 2022 priority outreach
Bright Light from Early Universe 'Opens New Chapter in Astronomy'
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The Hobby-Eberly Telescope reaches 25th anniversary milestone
November 3, 2022 priority
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NASA selects STAR-X for $3M mission concept study
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NASA selects STAR-X for $3M mission concept study
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 …
About our wordmark
Monica Rincon Ramirez

The IGC wordmark was created by Monica Rincon Ramirez while she was a graduate student at the Institute. Monica enjoys drawing new connections between fundamental theory and observations. Her graduate work included general relativity, loop quantum gravity, and quantum fields in cosmological backgrounds; her thesis focused on effective quantum corrections to gravitational phenomena from spinfoams and applications to cosmology. She received her PhD in 2024.

The wordmark symbolizes the scope of research at the IGC. The base represents quantum gravity, evoking the quantum geometrical picture from spinfoams and loop quantum gravity — approaches studied at the Center for Fundamental Theory. The middle shows galaxies embedded in a smooth surface characteristic of spacetime in general relativity and the larger physical scales studied at the Center for Theoretical and Observational Cosmology. The top curves to an extreme representing a supermassive black hole accompanied by an energetic jet, with a binary black hole pair nearby — the high-energy phenomena studied at the Center for Multimessenger Astrophysics.