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# E. M. Levesque

Emily Levesque, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Publications, CV

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://www.emlevesque.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [New paper: characterizing MANY new RSG+B star binaries](https://www.emlevesque.com/2019/03/17/new-paper-new/) - Check out the latest paper from the UW Massive Stars research group! This is the next paper in a series by second-year graduate student Kathryn Neugent. In her first paper she presented a photometric method for detecting red supergiants with binary companions. Here she applies her method to RSG samples, spectroscopically tests the results, and
- [UW Massive Stars group at AAS 233!](https://www.emlevesque.com/2019/01/19/uw-massive-stars-group-at-aas-233/) - AAS 233 was last week, right here in Seattle! This meant that a whole heap of awesome current/former members of the UW Massive Stars research group presented talks or posters including: Current USNA faculty member and former UW postdoc Jamie Lomax presented a poster on High Contrast Coronagraphic Imaging of Two RSG Stars. Current University
- [New paper: studying massive stars with TESS!](https://www.emlevesque.com/2019/01/30/new-paper-studying-massive-stars-with-tess/) - The latest paper from the UW Massive Stars research group is focused on the evolved massive stars in the TESS dataset! Led by Trevor Dorn-Wallenstein along with myself and UW postdoc Jim Davenport, the paper examines the two-minute (!) cadence lightcurves of fascinating evolved massive stars such as yellow supergiants and LBVs, and is a first
- [Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage](https://www.emlevesque.com/2019/02/01/gold-medal-of-honorary-patronage/) - Today I was so incredibly honored to receive the Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage from Trinity University’s Philosophical Society. They're the world's oldest student society and the Honorary Patronage is an international award that they grant to people "based on their significant contribution in their respective fields". Some of the past recipients that they listed
- [2019 Cottrell Scholar](https://www.emlevesque.com/2019/02/11/2019-cottrell-scholar/) - I'm very excited about today's announcement that I've been selected as a 2019 Cottrell Scholar by the Research Corporation for Scientific Advancement. The award recognizes "leaders in integrating science teaching and research" in the fields in chemistry, astronomy, and physics with a grant to support our continued research and teaching efforts. It's a great honor
- [New paper: atomic line diagnostics in red supergiants](https://www.emlevesque.com/2019/02/06/new-paper-atomic-line-diagnostics-in-red-supergiants/) - There's another new paper from the UW Massive Stars research group! This one is led by UW undergraduate student Brooke Dicenzo and studies the utility of Ti, Fe, and Ca absorption lines as tools for determine temperature and other parameters in red supergiants. The physics of these stars' atmospheres gets pretty complex and Brooke's work has
- [Book Announcement! The Last Stargazers](https://www.emlevesque.com/2018/09/10/book-announcement-the-last-stargazers/) - I'm very excited to announce a new book coming in 2020! The Last Stargazers is a popular science book that will share the adventures and quirks of observational astronomy. It introduces readers to how modern observing is done, explores the impending automation of the field and the role of human curiosity in scientific exploration, and
- [New paper: Detecting binary red supergiants with imaging](https://www.emlevesque.com/2018/09/27/new-paper-binary-red-supergiants/) - A new paper led by Kathryn Neugent, a second-year grad student and member of the UW Massive Stars research group, has just been accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal! The paper explores the binary fraction of red supergiants, a population that is surprisingly poorly understood but crucial when talking about massive stars in binaries
- [New paper: population diagnostics for the massive star binary fraction](https://www.emlevesque.com/2018/10/04/new-paper-population-diagnostics-for-the-massive-star-binary-fraction/) - There's another new paper from the the UW Massive Stars research group! This one is led by Trevor Dorn-Wallenstein, a fourth-year graduate student and has recently been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. The research uses the BPASS models of binary stellar evolution to simulate entire populations of stars with various binary fractions. Based
- [New paper: near-IR photometry of red supergiants with JWST!](https://www.emlevesque.com/2018/10/10/new-paper-near-ir-photometry-of-red-supergiants-with-jwst/) - There's another new paper from the UW Massive Stars research group! This paper is the first in a series presenting my research on the IR spectra of RSGs and developing techniques for observing them and determining their physical properties with JWST. This first installment is focused on simulating future near-IR photometry of RSGs with NIRSpec on
- [Weird Stars, Women in Science, and A Wrinkle In Time](https://www.emlevesque.com/2018/03/14/weird-stars-women-in-science-and-a-wrinkle-in-time/) - Last week I visited the Perimeter Institute to give a public lecture on "The Weirdest Stars in the Universe". You can watch the entire lecture here! The next day I was also lucky enough to join a number of other women serving as speakers, panelists, and mentors for a morning at the "Inspiring Future Women in Science"
- [New paper: GRB 020903 host galaxy](https://www.emlevesque.com/2018/02/18/the-grb-020903-host-galaxy/) - A new paper led by Mallory Thorp, a recent UW graduate and Massive Stars research group member (now a grad student at the University of Victoria!), has just been accepted for publication in ApJ! Using Gemini-South observations obtained as part of the Fast Turnaround program, we mapped metallicity and young stellar population age in the unusual
- [Book! Understanding Stellar Evolution](https://www.emlevesque.com/2018/01/05/book-understanding-stellar-evolution/) - Understanding Stellar Evolution, a graduate textbook written by Henny Lamers and myself, has now officially been published with IOP as part of the new AAS-IOP eBook Series! With an institutional IOP ebook subscription you (and your students!) can get a PDF, ePub, or Kindle copy of the book at IOP's website. This book gives a complete graduate-level overview
- [UW Massive Stars group at AAS](https://www.emlevesque.com/2018/01/04/uw-massive-stars-group-at-aas/) - Many of the awesome members and affiliates of the UW Massive Stars research group will be presenting talks or posters at the upcoming 231st AAS meeting in National Harbor, MD! I've compiled a list of our group's presentations below: come to these to hear about the latest exciting massive star research happening at UW! Postdoctoral
- [Book! Astrophysics of Red Supergiants](https://www.emlevesque.com/2017/12/21/book-astrophysics-of-red-supergiants/) - My first book, Astrophysics of Red Supergiants, has now officially been published with IOP as the first in the new AAS-IOP eBook Series! With an institutional IOP ebook subscription you can get a PDF, ePub, or Kindle copy of the bookat IOP's website. If you'd like to learn a bit more about the book you can
- [New paper: that's no star...](https://www.emlevesque.com/2017/11/30/new-paper-thats-no-star/) - ...it's a photobomb by an AGN with a possible supermassive black hole binary! A new paper on research led by Trevor Dorn-Wallenstein, a graduate research student working with me at UW, has recently been published by ApJ and featured in a press release from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the University of Washington. While searching
- [Two upcoming books on stars!](https://www.emlevesque.com/2017/02/15/two-upcoming-books/) - I have two upcoming books on stars coming out later this year! Both will be published as part of the AAS-IOP Astronomy e-book collection. The first, "Astrophysics of Red Supergiants", is a research monograph that's meant to serve as a comprehensive reference for researchers from a broad range of subfields who are interested in red supergiants as extreme stages of
- [Sloan Research Fellow in Physics!](https://www.emlevesque.com/2017/02/23/sloan-research-fellow-in-physics/) - I'm very excited to have been named a 2017 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in Physics! 126 fellowships were given this year to early-career faculty working in physics and seven other subfields, including several other astronomers and two other University of Washington faculty. It's a real honor to be in the company of so many
- [H-alpha as a luminosity class diagnostic in cool stars](https://www.emlevesque.com/2016/03/03/h-alpha-as-a-new-luminosity-class-diagnostic-in-cool-stars/) - A new paper on research led by Jeff Jennings, an undergraduate research student of mine at the University of Colorado, is now in press with ApJ! We used echelle spectra of dwarf, giant, and supergiant K- and M-type stars taken using ARCES at the Apache Point Observatory 3.5m to examine the evolution of spectral features with
- [JWST, the UV Telescope](https://www.emlevesque.com/2016/01/10/jwst-the-uv-telescope/) - The latest edition of the STScI Newsletter is now out and includes an article I wrote on studying star-forming galaxies at z>9 with JWST and what this means for our astronomy priorities in the meantime. JWST will be capable of observing photometry and spectra of astonishingly distant galaxies (z~10 and higher) that include massive star-forming galaxies and LGRB hosts. With
- [Physics GRE Scores of Astro Prize Fellows](https://www.emlevesque.com/2015/12/10/physics-gre-scores-of-astro-prize-fellows/) - Recently myself, Rachel Bezanson, and Grant Tremblay conducted an information email questionnaire of astronomy prize postdoctoral fellows to gather data on the scores that they had received on the Physics GRE. We sent it to 271 people who had held U.S. prize fellowships (Hubble, Einstein, Sagan, Jansky, and/or NSF) between 2010-2015, and 149 people responded
- [New position at UW!](https://www.emlevesque.com/2015/09/16/new-position-at-the-university-of-washington/) - Exciting news; as of today I've officially started a new position as an Assistant Professor in the astronomy department at the University of Washington! I'm so glad to be joining UW's fantastic group of astronomers, building my own research group on all-things-massive-stars, and enjoying the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. It's sure to be quite an
- [The Weirdest Stars in the Universe at STScI](https://www.emlevesque.com/2015/06/04/the-weirdest-stars-in-the-universe-at-stsci/) - This past Tuesday I gave the STScI monthly public lecture in Baltimore, MD - thanks to everyone who braved the rain and thunderstorms to attend! The lecture was livestreamed online and is now available to watch on YouTube. This is one of my favorite public lecture topics, so check it out to learn more about enormous red supergiants, core-collapse
- [UV ISM Diagnostics for Star-Forming Galaxies](https://www.emlevesque.com/2015/04/02/uv-ism-diagnostics-for-star-forming-galaxies/) - The results of our Hubble Cosmic Origins Spectrograph SNAP program, which has had data trickling in since late 2013, are now in press with ApJ! The paper was authored by Erika Zetterlund, a second-year at CU and the first grad student member of my research group, along with Claus Leitherer and Charles Danforth, and shows some
- [AAS 225 Cannon Plenary Talk now online!](https://www.emlevesque.com/2015/02/24/aas-225-cannon-plenary-talk-now-online/) - Slidecasts are now available for the 225th AAS meeting plenary talks! If you're interested in seeing my Cannon prize talk, or any of the other excellent plenaries given at the meeting, click here (AAS login required).
- [Annie Jump Cannon Doodle and AAS Talk](https://www.emlevesque.com/2014/12/11/annie-jump-cannon-doodle-and-aas-talk/) - Thumbs up to Google for marking Annie Jump Cannon's 151st birthday with today's Google Doodle! I was honored to be this year's recipient of the AAS award given annually in her honor - head over to the AAS award website to see the full list of excellent female astronomers that have been recognized over the years. Along with the other
- [Discovery of a Thorne-Żytkow object candidate in the SMC!](https://www.emlevesque.com/2014/06/04/discovery-of-a-thorne-zytkow-object-candidate-in-the-smc/) - My collaborators and I have discovered a candidate Thorne-Żytkow object in the Small Magellanic Cloud! TŻOs are a class of object with a neutron star for a core, surrounded by a large diffuse atmosphere that makes them outwardly resemble massive red supergiants - definitely candidates for "the weirdest stars in the universe", as they've been called! According
- [How On Earth interview](https://www.emlevesque.com/2014/05/27/how-on-earth-interview/) - This morning I was pleased to be the guest on the fantastic KGNU science show "How On Earth". We had a chance to chat about massive stars, gamma-ray bursts, Thorne-Zytkow objects (more news on those coming soon!...), observational astronomy, and more! Have a listen here (you can also listen to this and all the other excellent episodes on iTunes)
- [Fiske Planetarium Public Shows](https://www.emlevesque.com/2014/03/27/fiske-planetarium-public-shows/)
- [2014 Annie Jump Cannon Award](https://www.emlevesque.com/2014/01/15/2014-annie-jump-cannon-award/)
- [New diagnostics for star-forming galaxies](https://www.emlevesque.com/2013/11/13/new-diagnostics-for-star-forming-galaxies/) - A paper I wrote recently with ASU graduate student Mark Richardson has recently been accepted for publication in ApJ. Using my Starburst99/Mappings III models from 2010 combined with Mark's new models of high-z galaxies with large ionization parameters, we calibrated a new diagnostic for ionization parameter in these galaxies, [NeIII]/[OII]. Right now the most common
- [The circumstellar environment of SN 2009ip](https://www.emlevesque.com/2013/11/10/the-circumstellar-environment-of-sn-2009ip/) - A paper my collaborators and I wrote on the circumstellar environment of SN 2009ip is now in press with AJ! We got some gorgeous spectra of the unusual (and unfortunately-named) SN 2009ip with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5m during its remarkable outburst (and potential SN death) in late 2012. From these spectra and their unusually
- [Stellar population ages in star-forming galaxies](https://www.emlevesque.com/2013/11/06/stellar-population-ages-in-star-forming-galaxies/) - A new paper on using H-alpha, H-beta, and Br-gamma as age indicators in star forming galaxies is now in press with ApJ. We've examined how parameters such as rotation and treatments of the IMF and star formation history affect these lines' equivalent widths and their evolution with time; the effects of these assumptions can be
- [Data for our Hubble SNAP program!](https://www.emlevesque.com/2013/10/28/more-good-hubble-news/) - As of today our Cycle 21 SNAP proposal has started getting data! The proposal is a crucial observational component of my ongoing research program to unify multi-wavelength diagnostics and calibrate model galaxy spectra in multiple regimes. Our hope is that this one-cycle SNAP proposal will lay the ground-work for a large-scale treasury program with Hubble
- [Review paper on LGRB host galaxies](https://www.emlevesque.com/2013/10/22/review-paper-on-lgrb-host-galaxies/) - My second invited review paper, "The Host Galaxies of Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts" is now in press with PASP! It's a very different topic from my first invited review, "The Physical Properties of Red Supergiants" (published in New Astronomy Reviews), but they nicely span the two redshift extremes of my overall massive star research program. Check it out

## Pages

- [Home](https://www.emlevesque.com/) - Follow @emsque [/one_third]I am an Assistant Professor in the University of Washington's astronomy department. My research program is focused on improving our overall understanding of how massive stars evolve and die. I'm currently writing a popular science book, The Last Stargazers, that shares the tales and experiences of astronomical observing; Sourcebooks will be publishing it in
- [Publications](https://www.emlevesque.com/publications/) - ADS Query *-supervised student Invited Reviews (Refereed) Levesque, E. M. "The Host Galaxies of Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts" 2014, PASP, 126, 1 ads Levesque, E. M. "The Physical Properties of Red Supergiants" 2010, New Astronomy Reviews, 54, 1 astro-ph NewAR (ads link temporarily faulty) Refereed Publications 2019 Massey, P., Neugent, K.*, & Levesque, E. B. "The Discovery of QSOs
- [Books](https://www.emlevesque.com/books/) - The Last Stargazers Coming soon from Sourcebooks in 2020! Release date, synopsis, cover, and more coming soon! Check out The Last Stargazers website to get book news and updates, or follow me on Twitter (@emsque) and keep an eye on the #TheLastStargazers hashtag! I recently wrote two books with IOP as part of their
- [Research](https://www.emlevesque.com/research/) - My long-term research program is focused on pursuing new frontiers in stellar astrophysics by approaching massive stars as fundamental cosmological tools. By combining multi-wavelength observations and theoretical modeling of massive stars, star-forming galaxies, and transient phenomena such as SNe and GRBs, we can make new strides towards understanding these critical objects and effectively utilizing them
- [Privacy Policy](https://www.emlevesque.com/privacy-policy/) - Who we are Our website address is: http://emlevesque.com. What personal data we collect and why we collect it Where we send your data This site is part of a network of sites that protect against distributed brute force attacks. To enable this protection, the IP address of visitors attempting to log into the site is
- [CV](https://www.emlevesque.com/cv/) - Download full CV (PDF) here Education and Employment Present Assistant Professor, University of Washington 2013-2015 Hubble Fellow, University of Colorado at Boulder 2010-2013 Einstein Fellow, University of Colorado at Boulder 2006-2010 PhD., Astronomy, University of Hawaii 2008-2010 SAO Predoctoral Fellow, Harvard University 2002-2006 S.B., Physics, MIT Select Fellowships, Awards, and Grants 2019 Cottrell
- [Teaching](https://www.emlevesque.com/teaching/) - I currently teach ASTR 101: Astronomy, ASTR 322: The Contents of Our Galaxy and ASTR 531: Stellar Interiors and Evolution at UW. I recently co-authored the "Understanding Stellar Evolution" e-textbook with Henny J. G. L. M. Lamers, published by AAS-IOP in December 2017. You can learn more about this text on my Books page.
- [Model Grids](https://www.emlevesque.com/model-grids/) - Starburst99/Mappings Model Grid The grids of stellar population synthesis and photoionization models described in Levesque, Kewley, & Larson (2010) are available here for download. The grids were run using the Starburst99 stellar population synthesis code and the Mappings III photoionization code. This website will eventually include a detailed interface allowing users to download a tailored
- [Press](https://www.emlevesque.com/press/) - I've given a number of presentations for the general public on a wide variety of astronomy topics.
- [Transient Zoo](https://www.emlevesque.com/transientzoo/) - Transient Zoo is an in-progress citizen science program that will allow participants to classify the lightcurves of astrophysical transients such as supernovae using sound. Our "sonified" lightcurves depict changes in brightness as changes in pitch so that users can use short sound files to distinguish between different transient phenomena. A full preview of Transient Zoo

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- [News](https://www.emlevesque.com/category/news/)