Below you will find a list of current Lowell Center for Space Science & Technology (LoCSST) news and announcements. If you are looking for past ones, please visit our Past News and Announcements page.

2025 News and Announcements

  • June 2025: Graduate student, Charmi Patel, will attend the Coupling, Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions/Geospace Environment Modeling CEDAR/GEM workshop.
  • May 2025: Professor Silas Laycock was interviewed by the Boston Globe in an article about the upcoming May 5-6 Meteor shower, by Chris Gloninger 
Ciara Espaillat and Michael Sumner pictured with CubeSat
Professor Cook’s capstone students Ciara Espaillat and Michael Sumner (pictured here), and Tanner Jellison (not pictured) with CubeSat
  • April 2025: Professor Cook’s capstone students Ciara Espaillat and Michael Sumner, and Tanner Jellison, have 3D printed a CubeSat structure with Z-Polymers’ filament, Tullomer. The structure will be tested in Massachusetts Alliance for Space Technology and Sciences (MASTS) Lab's thermal vacuum chamber and will undergo a Thermal Vacuum Cycle Test per NASA specifications. This test will provide valuable information about the materials high-vacuum performance and the future possibilities for 3D printing a CubeSat.
Dr. Chakrabarti with his students in the Space Mission Design class of Spring, 2025, with the two groups showing off the two instruments they designed for the class.
Dr. Chakrabarti with his students in the Space Mission Design class of Spring, 2025, with the two groups showing off the two instruments they designed for the class. The students pictured are Matthew Levasseur (first on left) Alex Fitzler (2nd from left) Michael Jones (2nd from left) Ciara Espaillat (4th from left) Kimson Lam (5th from left) Jonathan Seero (6th from left) Thomas Williams (last from left)
Pictured is Thad (Top left) shaking hands with Prof. Tim Cook (Top Right) and smiling with Prof. Chris Mendillo (Bottom right).
Pictured is Thad (Top left) shaking hands with Prof. Tim Cook (Top Right) and smiling with Prof. Chris Mendillo (Bottom Right).
  • March 2025: Congratulations to Thaddeus Potter on passing his Thesis defense. Way to go Thaddeus Potter!
  • March 2025: Graduate student, Thad Potter, will present his dissertation defense, Thermal Strain Analysis of a Balloon-Borne Coronagraph, on 3/27.
  • March 2025: Friends of LoCSST, Edwin Aguirre and Imelda Joson, were mentioned on WCVB-TV Channel 5 news about their photos of the Blood Moon in the Video forecast: Mild air, chance of rain over weekend.
  • March 2025: Professor Silas Laycock gave an interview with the Boston Globe: Will clouds get in the way of viewing tonight’s ‘blood worm moon’ total lunar eclipse?. New England’s 2024 total eclipse set a high bar, but March is stepping up with a double feature in the sky. “This is a pretty exciting month for eclipse watchers because we’re getting two eclipses - one of each kind,” said Silas Laycock, an astronomer and professor at UMass Lowell.
  • March 2025: Thaddeus Potter will defend his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis on March 27, his dissertation title is "Thermal Strain Analysis of a Balloon-Borne Coronagraph."
  • February 2025: Professor Ofer Cohen presented a virtual seminar at Rice University titled "Disk - Stellar corona Interaction in Protoplanetary Disks – an Heliophysicist Perspective" on February 28.
  • February 2025: UMass Lowell (UML) is now listed as a Carnegie Research 1 (R1) university, a prestigious designation used to identify the nation’s top research institutions.
  • February 2025: People joined astronomers on UML’s south campus Riverview field near the dome for views through the telescopes on February 18th, March 18th and April 22nd of this year. This free event was open to the public, and all ages were welcome!
  • February 2025: Professor Chakrabarti presented the seminar Optical Aeronomy Instrumentation and related activities at UMass Lowell and Boston College on February 19.
  • February 2025: Graduate student, Guangfeng Yu, attended a Career Accelerator event held by Optica from February 16-20, 2025.
  • January 2025: Professor Supriya Chakrabarti has been named as a Optica 2025 Fellow.
  • January 2025: Professor Chakrabarti presented "Forest Structure Measurements using a Novel Two-wavelength Lidar System" at the Srilekha Raha Memorial Computer Lab in Presidency University.
Picture of Charmi Patel attaching the final part (Electronics box) to HiT&MIS to complete the full mounting of HiT&MIS in the observatory dome using the 80/20 Aluminum structure.
Charmi Patel attaching the final part (Electronics box) to HiT&MIS to complete the full mounting of HiT&MIS in the observatory dome using the 80/20 Aluminum structure.
  • January 2025: Graduate student Charmi Patel travelled to Sweden to deploy HiT&MiS, our versatile imaging spectrograph instrument, in Kiruna, Sweden to support the "Oxygen and its Role in Generating and Influencing Nightglow (ORIGIN)" rocket campaign, led by Stockholm University (MISU). HiT&MIS will capture key airglow emissions to evaluate launch conditions and contribute to the collaborative analysis of nightglow emissions for the campaign. Stay tuned for results and photos!
Supriya Chakrabarti (center) along with students and faculty from the Indian Centre for Space Physics

Supriya Chakrabarti (center) along with students and faculty from the Indian Centre for Space Physics where he presented a talk at the Space Exploration with Students Program.

2024 News and Announcements

UMass Lowell Distinguished Professor Medal

Prof. Chakrabarti's distinguished professor medal.

  • November 2024: Congratulations to Lowell Center for Space Science and Technology (LoCSST) Director, Supriya Chakrabarti, on receiving the 2024 Distinguished University Professor award. This prestigious honor recognizes his exceptional contributions to UMass Lowell, his remarkable commitment to advancing knowledge, and the profound impact he has on our university community.
  • November 2024: Prof. Chakrabarti gave a lightning talk at UMLs 2024 Faculty Symposium entitled “Chickadee: A satellite for everyone”.
  • November 2024: Professor Supriya Chakrabarti gave the presentation “A new tool for Space Situational Awareness: Ionospheric remote sensing from Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO)” during the Advanced Prototype Engineering Technology Symposium (APETS) 2024 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) on November 13, 2024.
Three people pictured inside UMass Lowell Schueller Observatory during first open night of Fall 2024.

A young observer checks out the inside UMass Lowell Schueller Observatory during the first open night of Fall 2024.

  • October 2024: Many students including Engineering and Physics showed up for the first public open night of fall semester. Though it was cloudy, folks got tours of the observatory and heard about the work our student astronomers are doing. This very interested young man joined in and his mom said “My son had the best birthday ever and we all learned so much. I know he really appreciated all of you taking the time to treat his questions seriously and he left saying he was definitely going to be a scientist when he grows up. I know you are all so smart but you are even kinder!”
Charmi Patel pictured with the “Women in S.T.E.M.” panel at the Maine Space Conference.
Charmi Patel (Second from the right) with the “Women in S.T.E.M.” panel at the Maine Space Conference.
  • October 2024: Charmi Patel participated in the “Women in S.T.E.M.” panel at the Maine Space Conference organized on October 23, sharing insights and experiences in her field.
The Aurora Borealis pictured as it illuminates the skies over Lowell, MA.
Aurora Borealis pictured as it illuminated the skies over Lowell, MA
  • October 2024: The Aurora Borealis illuminated the skies over Lowell, Massachusetts, on October 10, casting a vibrant glow above the Joseph Ouellette Memorial Bridge.
  • October 2024: Graduate student Thad Potter presented "A Structural, Thermal, and Optical Model of a High-Altitude Balloon Observatory" at two locations: University of Memphis on October 23 and Rhodes College on October 31.
  • October 2024: The Schueller Observatory on Riverview Fields hosted a Spooky Public Observatory Night on Tuesday, October 29th at 6:30 PM. Attendees were encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes while they explored the night sky through telescopes. The event was open to all ages, and free parking was available at 900 Broadway St, Lowell.
  • October 2024: Professor Cohen gave an interview with WBUR on Why New England could see more of the Northern Lights — including this weekend.
  • September 2024: Congratulations to our Fall Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium awardees:
    • Thaddeus Potter
    • Michael Jones
    • Charmi Patel
    • Lukas Hanson
    • Aadith Arasu
    • Mitchell Bailey
    • Julie Sage
    • Adam Connolly
  • October 2024: Prof. Supriya Chakrabarti presented “A new nanosat format for education: Design details and Status report” (Symposium B4 - 31st IAA Symposium on Small Satellite Missions) at the 75th International Astronautical Congress Milan, Italy 14-18 October 2024.
  • September 2024: Prof. Chakrabarti presented the talk "A new technique designed to obtain ionospheric parameters from Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) " at the United Kingdom (UK) Space Weather and Space Environment Meeting in Exeter, UK.
Charmi Patel at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Long Range Imaging Radar, Haystack Auxiliary Radar sign.
Charmi Patel at MIT Haystack
  • July 2024: Grad student, Charmi Patel, participated in The NSF-funded 2024 Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) Summer School, which was held in person at Boston University between July 22-27, 2024. At the workshop, she learned to design and run an experiment using PFISR (Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar) during a geomagnetically active period and went on a tour of MIT Haystack.
Picture of Sayantan Bhattacharya on left and Kalpa HenadhiraArachchige on right.
Sayantan Bhattacharya on left and Kalpa HenadhiraArachchige on right
  • May 2024: Congratulations to our Physics PhD graduates Sayantan Bhattacharya and Kalpa HenadhiraArachchige
Picture of physics PhD graduate Sunip Mukherjee
Physics PhD graduate Sunip Mukherjee
  • May 2024: Congratulations to our Physics PhD graduate Sunip Mukherjee
  • April 2024: UMass Lowell in the News: UMass Lowell Gets Lost in Space
  • April 2024: Let’s shoot for the stars like Robert Goddard: SpaceNews.com
  • April 2024: Timelapse of the Total Solar Eclipse of 2024, as observed from North Hero, Vermont.
Closeup of the total eclipse in April 2024.
Eclipse captured by Nick Sorabella.
  • April 2024: Physics graduate student and LoCSST researcher, Nick Sorabella, captured this great shot of the eclipse during his travels!
  • April 16, 2024: LoCSST hosted a very successful Massachusetts Space Week Kickoff event in conjunction with The Space Consortium with approximately 100 faculty, staff and students from UMass Lowell, state officials, Massachusetts Alliance for Space Technology (MASTS) partners, the local public, and others attending. Stay tuned for photos!
  • April 2024 Student Research Symposium presentations:
    • Sayantan Bhattacharya presented "IC 10's X-ray Universe: Probing the Blue Supergiant X-ray Binary Population".
    • Charmi Patel presented "Preparation, Visualization, and inventory of Ultraviolet Airglow Intensities as Observed by LITES".
    • Mit Bailey presented "A Novel Controller for MEMS Deformable Mirrors Utilizing Actuator Capacitance".
    • Lukas Hanson presented "Using the Alfvèn Wave Solar Model to Study the Solar Wind of the Sun and Sun-like Stars".
  • April 2024: Sayantan Bhattacharya successfully defended his PhD dissertation on April 5 entitled “X-RAY BINARIES IN NEARBY DWARF GALAXY IC 10: NOT TO MENTION THE X-1"
  • April 2024: Prof. Silas Laycock talked with WCAP-AM radio talk-show morning host about the Solar Eclipse on Friday, April 5.
  • March 2024: Prof. Silas Laycock gave an interview about the eclipse to The Eagle-Tribune’s Monica Sager on Tuesday, April 2 at 10:30! Stay tuned for the article once available!
  • March 2024: Edwin Aguirre's article on the April 8 solar eclipse is now live in UML News: Here Are Some Tips on How to Safely Observe and Photograph the Eclipse
  • March 2024: Prof. Silas Laycock and others spoke at Spring 2024’s Kennedy College of Sciences Conversation Starter on “Scientific Literacy and Communication” on March 13 from 3-6 p.m. in the SAAB-ETIC, Perry Atrium.
  • March 2024: Sunip Mukherjee virtually attended “Meeting the Challenges of Limited Observations for the Global Modelling of the Ionosphere-Thermosphere System” on March 8.
  • February 2024: (Feb. 29, 2024) – Physics Associate Professor Silas Laycock explains the science and history behind leap days in this live segment, available nationally on this platform. FOX Weather Channel: The science behind leap years
  • February 2024: An article on Prof. Ofer Cohen’s paper was described on 2/21 in a Phys.org article: Possible atmospheric destruction of a potentially habitable exoplanet
  • February 2024: Congratulations to our 4 grad students- Charmi Patel, Mitchell Bailey, Thaddeus Potter, and Lukas Hanson-for receiving $3500 each for MASGC fellowships Spring24 semester!
  • January 2024: Prof. Ofer Cohen presented the talk “Three-dimensional, Time-dependent MHD Simulation of Disk-Magnetosphere-Stellar Wind Interaction in a T Tauri, Protoplanetary System” at American Astronomical Society (AAS) New Orleans.
nick and poster
Nicholas Sorabella presenting his poster.
  • January 2024: Nicholas Sorabella presented the poster "The SMILE Project: A User-friendly Suite to Search for and Model Self-lensing Binary Systems" at AAS New Orleans.
  • January 2024: Graduate student Sayantan Bhattacharya presented IC 10's X-ray Universe: Probing the Blue Supergiant X-ray Binary Population (Sayantan Bhattacharya, Silas G. T. Laycock, Dimitris M. Christodoulou) at the AAS meeting in New Orleans.
  • January 2024: Prof. Tim Cook presented NAIL: a Novel, Asynchronous, Integrating, Latching deformable mirror controller (Timothy Cook, Mitchell Bailey, Supriya Chakrabarti, Kuravi Hewawasam and Christopher Mendillo) at the American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in New Orleans.
Students enjoying the Halloween-themed event at Schueller Observatory “spooky viewing party”.
  • October, 27 2023: Students enjoying the Halloween-themed event at Schueller Observatory “spooky viewing party”

2023 News and Announcements

  • December, 13 2023: Physics Associate Professor Silas Laycock told reporters conditions Wednesday evening would provide the best view of a meteor shower this year. He explained Geminids would be visible to the left of the constellation Orion’s Belt.(WBUR: UMass Lowell expert advises stargazers of meteor shower)
  • December 2023: Supriya Chakrabarti did a “pulsar podcast” entitled “What Kind of Space Research Happens in Massachusetts” with the Museum of Science.
  • December 2023: Mitchell Bailey successfully completed his qualifier today for a PhD in Computer Engineering – way to go Mit!
  • December 2023: Prof. Cohen presented "The Possible Impact of a Close-in Exoplanet on Type-II Radio Burst Signature" at Fall American Geophysical Union (AGU) Meeting.
  • November, 21 2023: Mit Bailey successfully presented his literature survey paper/Phd qualifier “Free space communication systems and methods in the near-earth and lunar regimes”
  • November, 11 2023:Congratulations to Lukas Hanson who successfully passed his MS Thesis Defense "Using the Space Weather Modeling Framework to Study the Solar Wind of the Sun and Sun-like Stars”.
  • November 10, 2023: Congratulations to Charmi Patel who successfully passed her MS Dissertation Proposal Defense in Physics on the title is "Airglow as seen by LITES".
  • November, 7 2023: Congratulations to Sunip Mukherjee for successfully defending his Ph.D. in Physics . The title is: Multi-Instrument, Multi-Location Observation and Modeling of the Upper Atmosphere-Ionosphere.
  • July 2023: Congratulations to Nicholas Sorabella and his advisor, Silas Laycock, on being awarded NASA’s FINESST research grant. Nick is developing a computational model for gravitational self-lensing.