The USRA Science and Technology Institute (STI) is seeking a full-time Postdoctoral Researcher to work on the Multi-wavelength Time Domain Observations of Accreting Black Holes project at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s X-ray Astronomy group. This is a fixed-term, 1-to-3-year appointment with the possibility of renewal pending funding availability. The successful applicant will work with NASA and USRA scientists in the MSFC X-ray group, and external collaborators to study how the outflow from accreting supermassive black holes behave and affect the host galaxies using Chandra, Hubble, and other ancillary observatories, the jet and particle acceleration physics in accreting supermassive black holes using IXPE, and the nature of unidentified Fermi detected objects using data from ART-XC and other ancillary observatories.
Essential Duties/Responsibilities:
- Reduce and analyze time-domain observations characterizing accreting black holes and their outflows as obtained by a wide range of NASA and other space assets such as Hubble, Chandra, IXPE, ARTXC, Fermi, Swift and XMM-Newton.
- Lead data analysis of existing and future multi-wavelength observations of astrophysical sources independently and through collaborations with NASA Xray group team members
- Prepare results of analysis for publication in scientific journals and for presentation at scientific and programmatic conferences (remotely and/or in-person)
- Submit and execute proposals for new observations through NASA General Observer programs
- Contribute to the general support of NASA/MSFC X-ray group activities such as development and characterization of NASA mission concepts or the mentoring of junior researchers
Required Qualifications:
- Experience in X-ray spectroscopic data analysis, polarimetry, and/or Hubble optical/UV data analysis for active galaxies and other compact objects is strongly preferred.
- Experience in data analysis and programming.
Education: PhD in Astrophysics or related fields.
Travel: Might involve presenting the research results at a professional conference.
Working Conditions: This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, etc. Extensive online usage. This is largely a sedentary role.
This position is contingent upon NASA funding.
