Deputy Head Instruments Division and
Observatory Scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute
Research Scientist, Johns Hopkins University
Adjunct Professor, Morgan State University
Baltimore, Maryland
click to find my contact information
Supernovae, cosmology, and the mysterious dark energy.
I am primarily concerned with clues to the nature of supernova progenitors through bulk analyses; rates, environmental effects (star-formation, metallicity, etc.), and the global evolution of these properties over the history of the Universe.
I am also involved in projects on four robotic telescopes; three in space-- The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and The Wide-Field Infra-Red Space Telescope (WFIRST); and the RCT 1.3-meter on the ground.
Stuff I do when I'm not "at work", like cooking, reading, etc.
Some Recent Activities
My main scientific interest is in understanding the rates of supernova explosions in the universe, and the connections to progenitor systems and event mechanisms. The plot above shows the volumetric core-collapse supernova rates over cosmic time, as measured by HST and other ground-based surveys. It is comparable to the volumetric cosmic star formation rate history (shown as the line), which confirms they are events from short-lived stars, in the range of 8 to 50 times the mass of the sun when they were formed. We learn similar types of constraints looking at thermonuclear type Ia supernovae rates over cosmic time.
We ran a program to locate distant supernovae in and around the target clusters of the HST Frontier Fields Survey. Our goals were to improve the constraints on Type Ia supernova rates at z > 1.5, and to refine cluster mass models by probing line-of-sight cluster lensing magnification of background supernovae. Along the way we found some very interesting supernovae, including "Refsdal" (shown above). The light from this unique event has been bent by gravity around the foreground galaxy, resulting in four images of the same event, which can be seen in the yellowish knots in the ring around the yellow galaxy above the bright star at the bottom of the image.
On a dark and (partly) cloudy night at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, Dr. Eric Rubenstein and I decided to follow up on an object we suspected was moving in our data. After an hour or so of reviewing and checking ephemerides, and so on, we were convinced we'd found a previously undiscovered outer solar-system minor planet. It was later confirmed to be an undiscovered TransNeptunian object, then named 1999 TC36. Moreover, it was later shown to be at least a pair of objects, as can be seen in the HST image from 2001. Amazing what you find when you're not looking for it!
With many thanks to Dr. Bryan Holler, the minor planet has a new name, Lempo, named after the ancient Finnish devil who, with the help of his two demon cohorts, Hiisi and Paha, brought down the hero Vainamoinen. The official citation can be found here https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi#top by typing "lempo" in the search field.
Dr. Louis-Gregory (Lou) Strolger is an Observatory Scientist and Deputy Head of the Instruments Division at Space Telescope Science Institute, a Research Scientist in Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, and an Adjunct Professor in Physics and Engineering Physics at Morgan State University. His scientific research explores supernovae, cosmology, and dark energy, where he primarily works on the nature of supernovae progenitors through bulk analyses of events and environments, and the evolution of these properties over cosmic time. He is an alumnus of the Physics program at Earlham College, and received his Masters in Astronomy, and his PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics, from the University of Michigan.
Dr. Strolger has been involved in science policy for much of his professional career, in roles for the Science Policies Group at STScI, and in several service roles to societal and professional advisory committees. Notably, he had a key role in developing the dual-anonymous peer review process for observing time on the Hubble Space Telescope, which been adopted at many astronomical observatories, and is rapidly gaining interest in physics communities and with federal granting agencies. He currently serves as an At-Large member of the Board of Trustees for the American Astronomical Society.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7756-4440
In the Kitt Peak National Laboratory 36-inch telescope control
room, circa 1998