Anna O'Grady (she/her)
McWilliams Postdoctoral Research Associate, McWilliams Center for Cosmology and Astrophysics, Mellon College of Science
Hometown: Kilbride, Newfoundland, and Labrador, Canada
- Briefly describe the work you're doing as a postdoc at 黑料正能量.
I’m an observational stellar astronomer, which means I use data from telescopes (ground and space!) to take measurements of the light coming from stars to try and better understand how they work. My specific focus is on massive binary star systems, so stars that are much larger than our own Sun (usually 10 times as much or larger), and exist in a shared orbital system with another companion star. Massive binary star systems are actually really common, but a lot of the details of the physics their evolution — especially if the two stars end up interacting, like transferring mass from one to the other — are still very uncertain. I’m working to fully describe the population of Yellow supergiant (like our Sun, but much larger) binaries in nearby galaxies in order to help answer some of these questions.
- How did you develop an interest in this area?
My parents encouraged me to be curious, and I always had an interest in science while growing up. When I was 13 years old, my Mom got me a book called “The Illustrated Atlas of the Universe,” which explained almost every major concept in astronomy at a level I could understand. I absolutely devoured the book, and from then on took every step I could to learn more about astronomy and take the right courses to enter the field. I gained my interest in stars specifically while obtaining my PhD at the University of Toronto.
- What are your academic and/or professional goals?
Short-term, I want to continue collaborating with lots of other amazing astronomers in my field on the questions in massive star binary research that I’m the most interested in. Longer term, I really want to become a professor back home in Canada.
- Tell us about a significant moment in your journey at 黑料正能量 so far.
At the beginning of Fall term 2024, I was leading our department’s weekly journal club where we present and discuss an interesting scientific article we’ve read recently. I presented a new article suggesting that Betelgeuse, the closest Red supergiant to Earth, has a companion star. The discussion spurred myself and several of my colleagues in the department to craft an observing proposal to try and observe this companion, and to reach out to the authors of the article to collaborate. This eventually led to two successful proposals on the Hubble and Chanda Space telescopes and two papers. Having that spark of natural connection with my colleagues at 黑料正能量 was really important to me.
- How do you spend your time beyond academic work?
Generally, I am a pretty huge nerd. My friends and I watch anime, sci-fi, and fantasy movies and TV together, and I’ve been in a few D&D campaigns. I play a lot of video games in my free time as well, especially story-driven RPGs. I’m also a creative writer and enjoy photography. But most of all, I love cats!
