Noel Richardson

Associate Professor

Noel.Richardson@erau.edu

Physics and Astronomy Department

Prescott College of Arts & Sciences

Areas of Expertise

My research area is broad interest in the physics of the most massive stars that end their lives in supernova explosions. Most of these stars are binary systems (two stars going around each other), and often interact with each other. I am interested in the processes in which these stars interact and affect each other's evolution, as well as how their strong winds send material into space. To study these phenomena, I use telescopes across the globe and in space to observe these stars from the ultraviolet to the infrared with techniques including measuring changes in stellar brightness, stellar spectroscopy, and long-baseline interferometry. Interested ERAU students should meet with me to discuss options.

Noel Richardson

Overview

Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Astronomy, Georgia State University

M.S. - Master of Science in Physics, Georgia State University

M.S. - Master of Science in Physics, University of Toledo

B.S. - Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, University of Toledo

B.A. - Bachelor of Arts in Astronomy, University of Toledo

American Astronomical Society

International Astronomical Union

American Association of Variable Star Observers

Cottrell Scholar, 2023

Research

Publications with ERAU students (students in italics):

  • Holdsworth, A, Richardson, N. D., et al. (including Spejcher, B.), "Visual Orbits of Wolf-Rayet Stars II: The Orbit of the Nitrogen-Rich WR Binary WR 138 measured with the CHARA Array", 2024, The Astrophysical Journal, 977, 185
  • Richardson, N. D., et al. (including Holdsworth, A., and Spejcher, B., "Visual Orbits of Wolf-Rayet Stars I: The Orbit of the dust-producing Wolf-Rayet binary WR 137 measured with the CHARA Array", 2024, The Astrophysical Journal, 977, 78
  • ¸é¾±³¦³ó²¹°ù»å²õ´Ç²Ô,ÌýDaly, et al. "The Long-period Spectroscopic Orbit and Dust Creation in the Wolf-Rayet Binary System WR 125", 2024, The Astrophysical Journal, 969, 140 
  • Barclay, Rosu, Richardson, et al. "Using CHIRON Spectroscopy to test the hypothesis of a precessing orbit for the WN4 star EZ CMa", 2023, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 527, 2198
  • Pavao, Richardson, et al. "Optical Properties and Variability of the Be X-ray binary CPD -29 2176", 2023, The Astrophysical Journal, 9569, 131
  • Peatt, Richardson, et al. "FORCASTing the Spectroscopic Dust Properties of the WC+O Binary WR 137 with SOFIA" 2023, The Astrophysical Journal, 956, 109
  • Strawn, Richardson, et al. (including Ibrahim, Lane, and Pickett), "The orbital kinematics of eta Carinae over three periastra with a possible detection of the secondary's motion", 2023, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 519, 5882
  • ¸é¾±³¦³ó²¹°ù»å²õ´Ç²Ô,ÌýPavao, et al. "A high-mass X-ray binary descended from an ultra-stripped supernova", 2023, Nature, 614, 45
  • Pickett, Richardson, Gull, Hillier, Hartman, Ibrahim, Lane, Strawn, et al. "Changes in the Na D1 Absorption Components of eta Carinae Provide Clues on the Location of the Dissipating Central Occulter", The Astrophysical Journal, 937, 85
  • Peatt & Richardson, "Optical Photometry of WR140 as the Dust Formed During the 2016 Periastron Passage", 2022, Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, 6, 20
  • Elliott, Richardson, et al. (including Ibrahim), "Five years of BRITE-Constellation photometry of the luminous blue variable P Cygni: properties of the stochastic low-frequency variability", 2022, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 509, 4246
  • Richardson, et al. (including Daly and Lane), "Outbursts and stellar properties of the classical Be star HD 6226", 2021, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 508, 2002
  • Richardson, Lee, et al. "The First Dynamical Mass Determination of a Nitrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet Star Using a Combined Visual and Spectroscopic Orbit", 2021, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 908, 3