Adi Foord, assistant professor of physics, loves studying black holes. She also loves sharing her enthusiasm for the sky with others, including writing popular articles about time travel and the James Webb Space Telescope for The Conversation. Last fall, Foord was named a Scialog Early Science with LSST Fellow.
In this role, Foord has the opportunity to propose research analyzing data coming from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the largest ground-based telescope in the world. Over the next 10 years, it will carry out the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), scanning the entire sky every three days. Construction of the observatory, in Chile, is nearly complete, and its first images of the sky are expected later this year. LSST will collect an unprecedented amount of astronomical data ripe for analysis—and full of discoveries just waiting to be uncovered.
The Scialog fellowship is designed to hasten those discoveries. A cohort of 50 fellows includes early-career researchers in a wide range of fields: astrophysicists like Foord, theoretical physicists, data scientists, software engineers, and more. Each year of the three-year fellowship, the fellows gather for a multi-day workshop designed to facilitate development of innovative research proposals that would use LSST data.
Foord’s first proposal, in collaboration with Krista Lynne Smith at Texas A&M University, is one of eight proposals selected for funding out of the 33 submitted after the first Scialog workshop.
Below, Foord answers questions about the fellowship, her research at UMBC, and her passion for physics, and shares advice for aspiring astronomers.
Q: How is this fellowship unique?
A: LSST’s open-access dataset will be higher in volume and complexity than any previous astrophysics survey and will contain unexpected data that will provide insights into fundamental questions about the universe.
This fellowship addresses two key challenges to unlocking the discoveries in LSST data: 1) the lack of seed funding to support early LSST discoveries, and 2) the need to create cross-disciplinary connections to address the ambitious questions LSST is poised to answer. By facilitating creative proposals from interdisciplinary teams and then funding those proposals, the fellowship program addresses both of these challenges.
On top of this, I was really excited by the interdisciplinary nature of the program. The most creative and innovative ideas often emerge when scientists from diverse fields come together. By fostering collaboration—over food, coffee, and discussions—the fellowship provides an ideal environment for sparking ideas.
Q: What are the goals of your funded proposal?
A: My proposal is focused on building and using a “Dual Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) Finder” on LSST data. Dual AGN are pairs of actively accreting supermassive black holes whose galaxies are merging. They are very difficult to find, because they generally just look like one source, instead of two.
Thankfully, the brightness of different kinds of objects in the sky varies predictably over time, so a graph called a “lightcurve” that represents an object’s varying brightness can be used to identify an unknown object. Our tool will use the unique lightcurve expected from dual AGN systems to search for pairs of merging AGN. As of right now, there are less than 100 confirmed pairs of merging AGN, so we hope to dramatically expand this sample size using our tool. LSST scans the full sky every three days, so it will have millions of lightcurves of AGN. It’s the perfect observatory to carry out such an analysis.
This new project with LSST nicely bridges my Ph.D. work on dual AGN with my current interests in how galaxy mergers influence supermassive black hole growth. It also opens the door to utilizing a completely different type of data.
Q: Why are you passionate about this field, and how did you find your way to it?
A: I wasn’t sure what I wanted to pursue in college until my senior year in high school, when I had the opportunity to take an observational astronomy class. Prior to that, I enjoyed physics and math, but I hadn’t found the applications particularly exciting. That all changed the first time I looked through a telescope and held a meteorite that had originated from a collision on Earth about 50,000 years ago. The sheer excitement I felt in those moments made me realize that astrophysics was the perfect intersection of math, physics, and an interesting environment. The support I received from my high school physics (Mr. Woosnam) and astronomy (Mr. P) teachers gave me the confidence to pursue this path.
I still experience that thrill every time I open new data, not knowing what discoveries await, but eagerly anticipating what the data will reveal. The unwavering support of my mentors and friends has enabled me to stay the course and be successful in this field. Now, as a professor, I strive to inspire that same excitement in my students and help them discover their own passions.
Q: What do you enjoy about being a member of the physics department and the UMBC community more broadly?
A: Since joining UMBC in fall 2023, I have been truly impressed by the students. The undergraduates are incredibly passionate about joining research teams and learning about astrophysics. It has been a rewarding experience to start building my own research group of graduate students and mentor them through their first graduate research projects.
I also particularly appreciate the amount of resources available for new faculty. In my first year, I participated in three different programs that introduced me to faculty across various departments, which I found invaluable. The Eminent Scholar Mentoring Program is especially unique—it has allowed me to professionally and personally connect with a seminal scientist in the field, someone I may not have had the opportunity to easily meet otherwise. These resources truly set you up for success and make you feel incredibly supported.
Q: What advice do you have for aspiring astronomers?
A: At the undergraduate level, actively seek out research opportunities wherever you can. Look for options at your own institution, nearby universities, and through programs offered by various agencies. Even if the research isn’t in an area you originally wanted to pursue, these experiences will help you develop critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and the ability to ask important questions.
I also encourage you to surround yourself with supportive mentors and colleagues. Every successful scientist got to where they are because they had people backing them along the way—the “lone genius” is rarely the full story. Being part of a supportive community not only helps you move forward but also fosters creativity and passion in your research, which is ultimately what drives us.
Q: Anything else you are burning to share?
A: My favorite supermassive black hole, of course! It’s Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. While it’s puny (only about four million times the mass of our Sun, which is relatively small for a supermassive black hole) and not particularly active, its proximity to us makes it an incredibly intriguing object. Despite being so close, there are still many unanswered questions about its growth and activity. Most of my research focuses on supermassive black holes in other galaxies, but if I had unlimited time, I would love to dedicate more of my work to studying Sagittarius A*.
