Brad Cenko
(RESEARCH AST, FIELDS AND PARTICLES)
| Email: | brad.cenko@nasa.gov |
| Phone: | 301.286.4678 |
| Org Code: | |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 661 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: |
Brief Bio
Astrophysicist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (June 2013 - Present)
Adjunct Professor, Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (June 2013 - Present)
Adjunct Professor, Department of Physics, George Washington University, Washington, DC (June 2017 - Present)
Principal Investigator, Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory (February 2017 - Present)
Current Projects
Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory - Principal Investigator
Zwicky Transient Facility - Chair of Science Steering Committee
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope: Transients and Variable Stars Working Group
Gravitational-wave Ultraviolet Counterpart Imager Concept - Principal Investigator
Positions/Employment
Research Astrophysicist
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD
June 2013 - Present
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Astronomy
University of Maryland - College Park, MD
June 2013 - Present
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Physics
George Washington University - Washington, DC
June 2017 - Present
Postdoctoral Scholar
University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley, CA
August 2008 - June 2013
Education
PhD (2008), Department of Physics, California Institute of Technology
Thesis: "The Energetics and Environments of Swift Gamma-Ray Bursts"
Advisors: Profs. Fiona Harrison and Shri Kulkarni
BA (2002), Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Harvard University
Thesis: "Multi-Layer Optics for the Next Generation of X-ray Missions"
Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Romaine
Awards
Research Corporation Scialog Fellow: 2015-2016
Robert H. Goddard Award, Scientific Achievement: 2015
Junior Fellow, Joint Space-Science Institute: 2013-Present
NASA Graduate Student Research Fellowship: 2005-2008
Talks, Presentations and Posters
Invited
Recent Observational Puzzles from Tidal Disruption Flares
February 2019
University of Amsterdam Astronomy Colloquium
What multi-messenger observations of GW170817 have told us
December 2018
Joint Space-Science Institute - GWPAW 2018
Recent Observational Puzzles from Tidal Disruption Flares
October 2018
Caltech Astronomy Colloquium
Optical Surveys
October 2018
Eighth Fermi Symposium
Transients and MultiMessenger Astrophysics with HabEx
October 2018
HabEx
The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory: Status and Prospects
September 2018
Time-Domain Astrophysics with Swift III
Kilonovae: An Observer's Perspective
June 2018
Neutron Star Merger Summer School
The Zwicky Transient Facility
May 2018
Northwestern University Department of Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
The Transient Universe as Seen by Swift
February 2018
Conference on the Transient Universe
Other
UV and Optical Spectroscopy of Tidal Disruption Flares
August 2018
FlipperFest: A 60th Birthday Celebration for Alex Filippenko
Selected Publications
Refereed
2016. "AN ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRUM OF THE TIDAL DISRUPTION FLARE ASASSN-14li.", The Astrophysical Journal, 818 (2): L32 [10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/l32] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "iPTF14yb: THE FIRST DISCOVERY OF A GAMMA-RAY BURST AFTERGLOW INDEPENDENT OF A HIGH-ENERGY TRIGGER.", The Astrophysical Journal, 803 (2): L24 [10.1088/2041-8205/803/2/l24] [Journal Article/Letter]
2012. "SWIFT J2058.4+0516: DISCOVERY OF A POSSIBLE SECOND RELATIVISTIC TIDAL DISRUPTION FLARE?.", The Astrophysical Journal, 753 (1): 77 [10.1088/0004-637x/753/1/77] [Journal Article/Letter]
2011. "Supernova SN 2011fe from an exploding carbon–oxygen white dwarf star.", Nature, 480 (7377): 344-347 [10.1038/nature10644] [Journal Article/Letter]
2011. "A Possible Relativistic Jetted Outburst from a Massive Black Hole Fed by a Tidally Disrupted Star.", Science, 333 (6039): 203-206 [10.1126/science.1207150] [Journal Article/Letter]
2011. "AFTERGLOW OBSERVATIONS OFFERMILARGE AREA TELESCOPE GAMMA-RAY BURSTS AND THE EMERGING CLASS OF HYPER-ENERGETIC EVENTS.", The Astrophysical Journal, 732 (1): 29 [10.1088/0004-637x/732/1/29] [Journal Article/Letter]
2009. "The Palomar Transient Factory: System Overview, Performance, and First Results.", Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 121 (886): 1395-1408 [10.1086/648598] [Journal Article/Letter]
2009. "THE HOST GALAXIES OFSWIFTDARK GAMMA-RAY BURSTS: OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON HIGHLY OBSCURED AND VERY HIGH REDSHIFT GRBs.", The Astronomical Journal, 138 (6): 1690-1708 [10.1088/0004-6256/138/6/1690] [Journal Article/Letter]
2009. "A γ-ray burst at a redshift of z ≈ 8.2.", Nature, 461 (7268): 1254-1257 [10.1038/nature08459] [Journal Article/Letter]
2008. "An extremely luminous X-ray outburst at the birth of a supernova.", Nature, 453 469 [Full Text] [10.1038/nature06997] [Journal Article/Letter]
2006. "The Automated Palomar 60 Inch Telescope.", Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 118 (848): 1396-1406 [10.1086/508366] [Journal Article/Letter]
2005. "The afterglow of GRB 050709 and the nature of the short-hard γ-ray bursts.", Nature, 437 (7060): 845-850 [10.1038/nature04189] [Journal Article/Letter]