Images of the GW170817 field from Jansky VLA data (PI: Corsi). The radio afterglow of GW170817 is marked with a white open circle. The central panel shows the discovery of a 6 GHz radio glow! The right image taken 6 d later confirmed this discovery. On the left is a pre-discovery image of the field.
Alessandra Corsi, Ph.D.
I am W. H. Miller Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, where I moved in 2024 (from Texas Tech University). My research focuses on multi-messenger time-domain astronomy, with emphasis on relativistic radio transients and gravitational wave physics.
My research is funded by the National Science Foundation from which I also received a CAREER award. I was one of the key players in the discovery of the radio afterglow from GW170817, the first LIGO binary neutron star merger. In 2017 I had the opportunity to report on this discovery at the NSF press conference hosted at the National Press Club. I am PI of several guest investigator programs funded by NASA. DOE also funds my research on applications of resilience solutions to multi-messenger astrophysics.
I am honored to be a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a recipient of the Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Science of The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST), and an Italian National L'Oreal-Unesco Awardee for Women in Science. I am also a Fellow of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (Scialog) in Time Domain Astrophysics. In 2020 I was selected as one of the ``SN 10: Scientists to Watch'' by Science News. I am fortunate to be among the recipients of one of the 2022 New Horizons in Physics Breakthrough Prizes.
I am a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and I work with a talented group of students, post-doctoral researchers, and collaborators - see About Me & My Group. I have experience teaching a variety of courses, from large introductory astronomy courses for non science majors, to upper-level and graduate Astrophysics and Physics courses.
Research
Search for long-lived gravitational waves from the remnants of GRBs and neutron star mergers in LIGO data.
Developing the science case for the next generation Very Large Array and defining VLA to ngVLA transtion
Teaching
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ASTR-1400 Solar System Astronomy (TTU)
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ASTR-1401 Stellar Astronomy (TTU)
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ASTR-3300 Special Topics: Radio Astronomy (TTU)
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ASTR-4305 Radiative Processes in Astrophysics (TTU)
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PHYS-5101 Seminar (TTU)
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PHYS-5300 Special Topics: Radiative Processes in Astrophysics (TTU)
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PHYS-6306 Advanced Electromagnetic Theory (TTU)