Astrophysical Sciences - Princeton University

06/18/2026

Recent Princeton graduate, Sophia Varughese ’26, who majored in Astrophysical Sciences and her advisor Professor Neta Bahcall, Eugene Higgins Professor of Astronomy, Professor of Astrophysical Sciences, and Director of Undergraduate Studies, were recently featured on the University website in an article discussing Sophia’s senior thesis, and her two passions, Astrophysics and Jazz!

The full article can be found here: https://www.princeton.edu/news/2026/06/17/senior-thesis-spotlight-scholarly-look-black-holes-and-relativity-student-whose

Congratulations, Sophia!

Sophia Varughese has two passions: astrophysics and music. Her senior thesis is a scholarly look at black holes and relativity, advised by Neta Bahcall. Her other universe is jazz performance.

05/22/2026

Rishika Porandla, a rising junior and student in the Astrophysical Sciences Department, has been named as a Student Ambassador of the American Physical Society for 2026-2027.

Working at the Princeton Space Physics Laboratory and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Rishika optimizes graphene and amorphous carbon foils for time-of-flight detectors used in space missions such as NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, and redesigns hemispherical electron energy analyzers for the Department of Energy’s FLARE experiment.

Across Central Jersey, Rishika leads STEM outreach initiatives that reinforce physics fundamentals, introduce students to AP curricula and hands-on laboratory experiences, and inspire interest in NASA space missions. At Princeton, Rishika’s roles include Lead IMAP Fellow for Princeton Science Outreach and STEM Lead for the Civic Leadership Council. On campus, she also serves as a Princeton Correspondent on Undergraduate Research and as a student advisor to the American Geophysical Union.

As an APS Ambassador, Rishika looks forward to connecting Princeton students with opportunities to present their research and engage with the APS Global Summit through travel grants, poster presentation opportunities, and professional networking. She is excited to serve as a resource for students seeking guidance on APS programs, grants, and early-career development in physics and related fields.

The APS Student Ambassadors program is a prestigious leadership opportunity that connects physics students around the world to the broader physics community. Ambassadors serve as liaisons between APS and their peers by sharing resources, promoting professional development programs, and strengthening the sense of belonging among physics students on campus and beyond. Rishika was selected as the representative of Princeton University in the ambassadorship. According to Sarah Monk, the program manager, 125 ambassadors across 125 institutions in 20 countries were selected out of thousands of applications.

Congratulations, Rishika!

04/24/2026

Robert Lupton, Senior Research Astronomer, in the Department of Astrophysical Sciences was recently featured in an article from the Office of the Dean of the Faculty. Lupton, has spent his career developing software systems that power major sky surveys like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which enables scientists worldwide to map and study the universe in unprecedented detail. Read it here:

A senior research scientist in astrophysical sciences at Princeton and a world-renowned expert in astronomical software and algorithms, it’s 25 years since Lupton first started thinking about how to build Rubin, which celebrated its “first look” last summer when it released stunning images to ...

04/23/2026

Jenny Greene, Professor of Astrophysical Sciences, is among the new members elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (AAAS), in recognition of her outstanding contributions in the field of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Professor Greene’s research focuses on supermassive black holes and the galaxies in which they reside. Greene is also the Academic Director of the Prison Teaching Initiative.

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences was established in 1780 during the American Revolution and its mission is to benefit society through every art and science in order to advance knowledge and learning across disciplines to improve peoples’ lives. The AAAS confers the distinction of honor as a member to leaders around the globe who are experts in the arts and sciences, business, philanthropy, and public affairs.

Professor Greene joins the ranks of 14,500 elected members since AAAS was first established. Other current AAAS members from Princeton’s Astrophysics community include: Neta Bahcall, Adam Burrows, Jim Gunn, Eve Ostriker, Lyman Page, Jim Peebles, Eliot Quataert, David Spergel, Jim Stone, Suzanne Staggs, and Joe Taylor.

Hiranya Peiris (University of Cambridge), who received her PhD from our department in 2003, was also named to the AAAS this year.

03/20/2026

Princeton astrophysics student Jared Siegel *27 has received the 2026 Jane Street Graduate Research Fellowship, which "supports exceptional doctoral students currently pursuing a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science, mathematics, physics, or statistics.” As described in the winners’ profiles, Jared’s work is focused on "understanding how processes within galaxies impact the surrounding matter, to ultimately test our model of the universe in new regimes.” Jared is advised by Alex Amon and Jenny Greene.

Congratulations, Jared!

12/03/2025

A paper by James Beatie, Amitava Bhattacharjee, and collaborators, The spectrum of magnetized turbulence in the interstellar medium, has received the HPCwire Top HPC-Enabled Scientific Achievement Award, which celebrates the most significant breakthroughs in high performance computing each year.

In addition, stunning images from their simulations modeling turbulence similar to that in the interstellar medium were recently featured in Epsiloon, the French version of New Scientist.

Beatie and collaborators created the images using supercomputers to show a visual rendering of the complicated magnetohydrodynamically driven structure in the ISM. Beatie said of the process ”with these simulations, I try to understand what the chaos looks like, to bring order to it, in a way."

Congratulations to James and Amitava!

12/01/2025

Chris Hamilton will join the Department of Astrophysical Sciences faculty in the fall of 2026 as an Assistant Professor. Hamilton is currently a John N. Bahcall Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He earned his undergraduate degree from Merton College in Oxford and his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. His areas of research include the dynamics of galaxies, star clusters, and binary stars, compact object mergers, and the kinetic theory of stellar systems and plasmas.

We look forward to Chris joining us next fall!

10/07/2025

Justin Myles, Brinson Fellow, Henry Norris Russell Fellow, and Future Faculty in the Physical Sciences Fellow, received the 2025 Robert J. Trumpler Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, presented each year "to a recent recipient of a PhD degree whose research is considered unusually important to astronomy.” Justin completed his PhD at Stanford, where he developed new techniques to calibrate photometric redshifts, as well as to accurately determine the richness of clusters of galaxies. Previous recipients of this honor include the following people with a Princeton connection: Maggie Thompson, Gummi Stefansson, Rachael Beaton, Charlie Conroy, Phil Hopkins, Edo Berger, Wayne Hu, and J. Richard Gott.

Jamie McCullough, Postdoctoral Research Associate, was named a Emily Noether Postdoctoral Researcher at Perimeter Institute (PI), allowing her to spend up to three months at PI to carry out collaborative research. Previous recipients of this honor include the following people with a Princeton connection: Anna Ijjas, Katie Mack, and Arielle Phillips.

Congratulations, Justin and Jamie, for these well-deserved honors!

10/06/2025

Russell Kulsrud, an emeritus faculty member of our department, and a giant in the field of plasma astrophysics, passed away peacefully on September 23, 2025, at the age of 97. Kulsrud earned his bachelor's degree in 1949 from the University of Maryland and his Master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1952 and 1954, respectively. At the University of Chicago, he met his wife, Laney, who passed away earlier this year. After earning his Ph.D., he came to Princeton, originally to join Project Matterhorn, the precursor to the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). He began teaching in the department in 1960, continuing until his retirement in 1999. He was Head of the Theory Division at PPPL from 1963 to 1966. He went to Yale as a Professor in 1966, returning to Princeton in 1967. He became a full Professor in the Department of Astrophysical Sciences in 1989 and received the Maxwell prize in 1993. In 2005, he published “Plasma Physics for Astrophysics”, a classic textbook in the field.

Kulsrud is survived by his daughter, Pamela Corey, and son-in-law, Troy Corey. He will be sorely missed.

10/02/2025

Public Observing tonight from 8-10pm! Please check our website to confirm before heading out: https://www.astro.princeton.edu/observatory/publicobserving.php