Dr. Christopher Irwin

For his PhD in Astronomy at the University of Virginia, Dr. Irwin researched interacting supernovae—when an exploding star becomes superluminous due to the interaction of the explosion with dense material that the star itself ejected a short time before exploding. This research has already had more than 250 citations. Superluminous supernovae are one of several known kinds of rare and peculiar events in the transient sky. At Tel Aviv, in the School of Physics and Astronomy, Dr. Irwin is continuing to work on such transient events, specifically, gamma ray bursts that are very long-lived or unusually faint. His theoretical work, involving analytical calculations and numerical simulations, can inform future observational surveys, potentially moving us, as he writes, “one step closer to a complete understanding of how massive stars end their lives.” Among his many academic awards and honors, Dr. Irwin was a recipient of the Jefferson Fellowship, a competitive five-year award at the University of Virginia that emphasizes interdisciplinary interaction, teaching, research and public communication of that research.