Phillips Professor of Astronomy
Director, Origins of Life Initiative
Senior Advisor in the Sciences for Advanced Study
Research Interests: Professor Sasselov studies, among other things, extrasolar planets, and he's a co-investigator on NASA's Kepler mission, which is monitoring 100,000 stars in a three-year hunt for exoplanets -- including Jupiter-sized giants. Sasselov watches for exoplanets by looking for transits, the act of a planet passing across the face of its star, dimming its light and changing its chemical signature. This simple, elegant way of searching has led to a bounty of newly discovered planets.
Research Interests: Radio and radar techniques: applications to astrometry, astrophysics, geophysics, planetary physics, and tests of theories of gravitation; Pre-college and college science education: curriculum development and teacher training.