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Friday, November 21, 2025
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New and exciting activities in the
McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences
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Recent News From McDonnell Center Fellows
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A new angle of study for unveiling black hole secrets
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An international collaboration of physicists, including researchers from WashU, has made measurements to better understand how matter falls into black holes and how enormous amounts of energy and light are released in the process. They pointed a balloon-borne telescope called XL-Calibur at a black hole, Cygnus X-1, located about 7,000 light-years from Earth. “The observations we made will be used by scientists to test increasingly realistic, state-of-the-art computer simulations of physical processes close to the black hole,” said MCSS fellow Henric Krawczynski.
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The potential for plate tectonics on Earth-like exoplanets
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Imagine discovering distant worlds that behave geologically like Earth. Earth's unique form of plate tectonics, where the surface is divided into moving plates with active boundaries and stable interiors, has not been conclusively found on other rocky planets in our solar system. Could this process be happening on distant planets too?
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Philip Skemer delved into this question. He and his research team studied how the composition of exoplanets might influence their ability to develop plate tectonics. By using data from stars, they predicted the makeup of Earth-sized exoplanets and modeled how these compositions could affect the formation of plate boundaries.
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On Friday, October 24, 2025, the MCSS faculty fellows gathered at the Women's Building on the Danforth Campus. Bill McKinnon provided an update on the state of the Mac Center and engaged the group in a discussion on strategic planning.
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Recent Publications by McDonnell Center Fellows
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Awaki, H., Bose, R., Chun, S., Gau, E., Hu, K., Krawczynski, H., Lisalda, L., Menon, S.V., Rauch, B., Cavero, N.R., et al. (2025). XL-Calibur polarimetry of CYG X-1 further constrains the origin of its hard-state X-Ray emission. The Astrophysical Journal, 994(1), 37.
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Minocha, A., Ogliore, R. C., Carpenter, P. K., Yen, C., & Jolliff, B. L. (2025). Analyses of Apollo 17 samples using the Quantitative Microanalysis Explorer: a Web‐Based visualization platform to study optical, electron, and X‐Ray imaging data. Journal of Geophysical Research Planets, 130(11). https://doi.org/10.1029/2024je008614
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Hipp, A. T., Buckley, J.H., Gaikwad, C., Hoffman, J., Murch, K.W., Russell, J., et al. (2025). Search for nonvirialized axions with 3.3 − 4.2 μ eV mass at selected resolving powers. Physical Review. D/Physical Review. D., 112(10).
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MCSS Postdoctoral Fellowship Opening
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MCSS is hiring a postdoctoral fellow in the broad field of space sciences. We welcome applicants with interests in Astromaterials, Cosmochemistry, or Meteoritics; Experimental, Theoretical, or Observational Astrophysics; Planetary Science; Particle and Nuclear Physics, Cosmology and Gravitation; and Earth as a Planet. In their application materials, the candidate should describe their research interests and list potential collaborators from among the faculty fellows of the MCSS.
Please share this opportunity with your research contacts and encourage qualified candidates to apply by December 20, 2025.
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PASSPoRT to WashU (Pathways to Advanced Scientific Skills through Postdoctoral Research Training) is a virtual full-day event for prospective postdocs hosted by the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at WashU. This event is open to advanced PhD students (post-qualifying exams), recent PhD graduates, and early-stage postdocs.
This virtual event will be held on Thursday, December 4, 2025. Registration is now open.
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From Pixels to Primordial Non-Gaussianity and Beyond / AGN Jets in Complex Cluster Environments
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Astrophysics & Space Sciences Seminar
Richard Feder-Staehle, UC Berkeley / Lindsey Gordon, UMN
TODAY, Friday, November 21
9:00am, Compton 241
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| Electromagnetic Signals of High-Frequency Gravitational Waves
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Physics Theory Seminar
Asher Berlin
Fermilab
TODAY, Friday, November 21
New Time! 1:00pm, Compton 241
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| From Variable Stars to Dark Matter – The Expanding Legacy of Henrietta Leavitt
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Physics/PAD Colloquium
Tansu Daylan / Chris Cappiello /
Bryce Wedig / AAvik Wadvikar
WashU
TODAY, Friday, November 21
3:00pm-4:30pm, Seigle 206
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Performing Arts Department
partnered with Dept. of Physics
This weekend: Friday, November 21
- Sunday, November 23
Evenings: 7:30pm, Matinees: 2:00pm
A.E. Hotchner Studio Theater
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The Making of an Enterprise: How Star Trek Helped NASA Dream Big and How NASA Helped Star Trek Survive
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St. Louis Astronomical Society November Meeting
Glen Swanson
TODAY, Friday, November 21
7:30pm, McDonnell 162
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| Edwin Thompson Jaynes Fellowship Symposium
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Physics Symposium
Christopher Cappiello /
Dmitry Chichinadze
WashU
Wednesday, December 3
2:30pm, Crow 204
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EEPS Colloquium
Grace Barcheck
Cornell University
Thursday, December 4
11:30am, Rudolph 301
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| New Class of Three-Nucleon Forces and Their Implications
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Physics Theory Seminar
Maria Dawid
WashU
Thursday, December 4
3:00pm, Compton 241
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| EEPS Brown Bag
Leah Morgen
Friday, December 5
12:00pm, Rudolph 301
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| McDonnell Center Contacts |
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Compiled and edited by Alison Verbeck. Please send any contributions to alison@wustl.edu.
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