02/04/2025
By Amanda Vozzo

Christopher Groppi, professor and associate director for Graduate Initiatives, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University will give a talk on “Suborbital experiments and technology development for terahertz astrophysics”

Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Time: 4-5 p.m.
Location: Olsen Hall, Room 503

Abstract: In this talk, I’ll discuss two suborbital balloon experiments to which my group is currently contributing: ASTHROS: the Astrophysics Stratospheric Telescope for High Spectral Resolution Observations at Submillimeter-wavelengths, and TIM: the Terahertz Intensity Mapper. ASTHROS will observe the 205um and 122um fine structure lines of ionized nitrogen to understand the impact of stellar feedback on the ionized phase of the interstellar medium in both our Galaxy and others. TIM will observe the 158um fine structure line of ionized carbon at redshifts between z=0.5-1.5 using a new technique called intensity mapping. This technique extracts statistical information of the underlying galaxy population using power spectra of spatially and spectrally unresolved maps rather than detecting individual sources. In addition to these missions, our group is also developing several technologies, including metamaterial optics and cryogenic electronics for terahertz applications. I’ll highlight some developments in these technologies relevant to both suborbital and space astrophysics.

Bio: Christopher Groppi is an experimental astrophysicist interested in the process of star and planet formation and the evolution and structure of the interstellar medium. His current research focuses on the design and construction of state-of-the-art terahertz receiver systems optimized to detect the light emitted by molecules and atoms in molecular clouds, the birthplace of stars. Development of multi-pixel imaging arrays of terahertz spectrometers is a key technology for the advancement of astrophysics in this wavelength regime. Professor Groppi is participating in several research efforts to develop advanced terahertz imaging arrays for ground based and suborbital telescopes. He also applies terahertz technology developed for astrophysics to a wide range of other applications including Earth and planetary science remote sensing, hazardous materials detection and applied physics.