Christopher Phillips
I am a second year PhD researcher working on the in the Astronomy and Astrophysics group at the University of ÌÇÐÄTV. My supervisors are Krzysztof Ulaczyk and Danny Steegsh.
Prior to coming to the University of ÌÇÐÄTV, I worked as a Research Scientist on the (ZTF) time-domain survey at the University of Washington (UW), in the beautiful US Pacific Northwest. During my time at UW I helped develop and maintain the UW-ZTF alert distribution system, a Kafka based alert system that delivers millions of transient alerts per night to enable downstream science for collaborators across the globe. I also conducted follow-up observational programs in support of the
In tandem to this role I also worked for the (NOIRLab) where I was based at , Hawaiʻi, USA. NOIRLab is one of the many scientific collaborations that I have cultivated, others include the (LSST), and the development of the (MSE).
Research Interests
- General time domain astrophysics: High energy astrophysical transients, exoplanets, non-periodic transients (Dippers!), late time evolution of supernovae, white dwarf planetary remnants.. basically anything that goes bump in the night.
- Machine learning classification of transients.
- Image processing and pipeline development for large scale surveys.
- Rapid large scale spectroscopic follow up of survey transients.
- Multi messenger transient detection and follow up.
Publications (co-authored)
- Graham, M. L. et al. 2024. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, (Accepted for Publication, Nov 2024)
- Graham, M. L. et al. 2022.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 519, Issue 3, March 2023, Pages 3881–3902 - Graham, M.L. et al. 2022.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 511, Issue 1, March 2022, Pages 241–254
Outreach
- Taught undergraduate astronomy, .
- Planetarium Manager at the . Worldʻs first 3D stereoscopic planetarium.
- Science consultant and producer for various fulldome films for planetaria including the Awesome Light series (a focus on the observatories of Maunakea), and National Geographicʻs Wildest Weather in the Solar System, and many more.
- Studied under native Hawaiian cultural practitioners and educators to deliver astronomy education and outreach programs in both English and Ōlelo Hawaii (Hawaiian language), for underserved communities on Hawaiʻi island, with a focus on and celestial navigation.
- Coordinated the Hawai’i Island ʻʻ program, 2023.
Journey through the Universe is an island wide astronomy outreach program linking members of the astronomy community with local schools. Journey 2023 successfully delivered astronomy education programs to over 3500 students. - Author and co-host of Hawaii’s longest running astronomy radio segment, on Hawaii Public Radio (2013-2023).
- Active member of the (MKAOC).
- Author of the monthly °²¹Ê»³Ü Night Skies column for the . °²¹Ê»³Ü District, HawaiÊ»i Island.
Awards and Scholarships
- ÌÇÐÄTV Astrophysics PhD Prize Scholar (2024/25 entry), University of ÌÇÐÄTV
