In this series of posts, we sit down with a few of the keynote speakers of the 245th AAS meeting to learn more about them and their research. You can see a full schedule of their talks here, and read our other interviews here!

Today, we’re thrilled to highlight the work of Professor Dave Pooley, a leading expert in all things X-ray astronomy. A professor at Trinity University in Texas, Pooley has worked on a variety of astrophysical objects, spanning from supernovae to supermassive black holes, and many things in between. At AAS 245 this week, he will highlight some of the key results that have come out of the Chandra X-ray Observatory over its 25 year life to date in his plenary talk titled “From the Smallest Things to the Greatest Results – The Incredible Power of the Chandra X-ray Observatory.”
Observational Expertise & Working with Good People
Prof. Pooley got his start at MIT, where he did both his undergraduate and graduate education. He entered MIT interested in working on plasma physics and fusion, thinking that he could help solve the world’s energy crisis. However, his junior year he found a research opportunity studying one of the most prolific supermassive black holes out there, the first quasar ever discovered (3C 273), and he was hooked on doing astronomy research ever since. In grad school, he split his time between studying nearby core-collapse supernovae (i.e. the explosive death of a massive star) and faint X-ray sources in globular clusters. While these were two totally different topics, they were tied together by the same methodology – X-ray observations.
After MIT, he became a Chandra Fellow at UC Berkeley, where he continued his work on supernovae with Dr. Alex Filippenko. At this stage in his career, he started to get the advice that he needed to become the leading expert in one topic, as this was how he would land a faculty job. But this style never really suited Prof. Pooley, as there were many scientific topics of interest to him. Instead, as a postdoc, he also turned back to his undergraduate supermassive roots, getting excited about gravitationally lensed quasars, which are magnified through a giant galaxy that lies between us and the quasar. It was through this project that he really realized that his observational expertise was transferable to many different astrophysical problems.
These experiences helped Prof. Pooley realize that his favorite way of doing research was to find people he enjoyed working with on topics he found interesting, and this has guided him to this day. He recounted one particular experience in which he and Dr. Joel Green picked one of their wavelengths and the other’s science and asked what they could learn together. The two picked Prof. Pooley’s wavelength – X-rays – and Dr. Green’s science – FUor stars – and asked what hadn’t been done and what questions remained. FUor objects are infant stars, still in the process of becoming a full-grown star like our own Sun, that undergo major outbursts marked by a huge jump in the amount of light we see from them. The leading theory to explain these outbursts are that a major amount of mass is dumped onto this protostar from its surrounding disk of material. What excites Prof. Pooley about these outbursts is that they can help explain how stars actually grow massive enough to explain the observed populations. Together, Prof. Pooley and Dr. Green put in proposals to obtain the first X-ray observations of an FUor object actively in outburst, and teamed up with theorists to work on understanding their observations. Reflecting on the experience, Prof. Pooley said “This is how I want to do science – I want to work with fun and interesting people on these exciting topics.”
Adding in a Teaching Element
Today, Prof. Pooley is a professor at Trinity University in Texas, a predominantly undergraduate, liberal arts institution. At a liberal arts college, teaching is a much higher priority for professors. This is exactly the type of place where Prof. Pooley wanted to wind up – a place where both research and teaching were highly valued and an important part of his career. Over the years, he has developed his own teaching strategies and likes to engage students through active learning and scientific storytelling, saying “I like to tell a story. Our brains are wired for narrative. We’re humans; narrative is how we process information.” Another important, and rewarding aspect of Prof. Pooley’s job as a professor is mentoring undergraduate students and bringing them to the forefront of astronomical research. He says, “I like knowing that even if they don’t become astronomers, they have this great skill set, and they’re always going to remember this project where they developed that.”
The path to becoming a professor at a teaching college can be a bit different than at a research-focused institution. Prof. Pooley advises, “If you’re thinking about teaching, try as hard as you can to do that as a graduate student, rather than a postdoc. That helps you tailor your path forward.” Being up-to-date on recent pedagogy and having experience teaching in the classroom are both important to do prior to applying to a liberal arts or teaching college. He also wants students to know that there are many paths they can take through astronomy; for example, there are many different types of universities at which you can become a professor, or government organizations, like NASA, at which you can become a research scientist. Additionally, the skills you learn as an astronomy and physics student can be directly transferable to industry positions outside of academia as well.
#SaveChandra
At AAS 245, Prof. Pooley will highlight some of the key results from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA’s premier X-ray telescope. This telescope is near and dear to Prof. Pooley’s heart, as he has used it for many discoveries over the past 2 decades. Chandra has been at the center of the news this past year, as NASA announced that it planned to reduce Chandra’s funding amidst government budget concerns. While Prof. Pooley understands that NASA is in a tough spot with respect to the budget, he notes, “We should be responsible stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars. Chandra is paid for and functioning well, and the scientific return on investment to keep it operating is enormous. We must keep it going until a successor is launched.” Prof. Pooley is one of the leading figures for the #SaveChandra movement, which urges NASA not to prematurely end Chandra’s mission and was highlighted in this Astrobite and on NPR. “Chandra is the most powerful, most sensitive, highest spatial resolution X-ray facility we’ve ever had, and it is going to remain so for at least a decade.” Importantly, Chandra is still producing exciting science, including helping discover one of the most distant black holes, finding new X-ray bursts from nearby black holes, and tracing matter distributions in galaxy cluster mergers. Saving Chandra is crucial to continuing to discover the mysteries of the universe.
To hear more about the incredible 2.5 decades of science with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and what more it will reveal in the future, tune into Prof. Pooley’s Plenary Lecture at 8:10 AM – 9:00 AM EST on Tuesday, January 14 at #AAS245!
Astrobite edited by: Jessie Thwaites
Featured image credit: American Astronomical Society