A nearby star is pummeling a companion planet with a barrage of X-rays a hundred thousand times more than the Earth receives from the Sun. Credit: NASA/CXC/NSF/IPAC/2MASS (see the 
MIT Kavli Institute Directory
Laura Lopez
Pappalardo Postdoctoral Fellow; Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow Postdoctoral ScholarI came to MIT in 2011 as a Pappalardo Fellow in Physics and a NASA Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow. I completed my PhD in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California Santa Cruz in 2011. Before going to UCSC, I earned an SB in physics from MIT in 2004. I am originally from Barrington, IL.
I am interested broadly in the birth and death of massive stars and how these events shape the interstellar medium. Regarding stellar death, I use X-ray observations of supernova remnants to discern the physical properties of compact objects, explosions, chemical mixing, and particle acceleration. Related to stellar birth, I analyze imaging and spectroscopic data from across the electromagnetic spectrum to assess how massive stars influence surrounding gas and dust via energetic feedback.
"What Drives the Dynamics of Giant HII Regions?: A Study of Stellar Feedback in 30 Doradus", Lopez, L. A., Krumholz, M. R., Bolatto, A., Prochaska, J. X., Ramirez-Ruiz, E., 2011, Astrophysical Journal, 731, 91, arXiv: 1008.2383
"Using the X-ray Morphologies of Young Supernova Remnants to Constrain Explosion Type, Ejecta Distribution, and Chemical Mixing", Lopez, L. A., Ramirez-Ruiz, E., Huppenkothen, D., Badenes, C., Pooley, D. A., 2011, Astrophysical Journal, 732, 114, arXiv: 1011.0731
American Physical Society Young Star Award (for early career recognition in astrophysics), 2012 MIT Pappalardo Fellowship in Physics, 2011 NASA Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2011 UC President's Dissertation Year Fellowship, 2010-2011 AAUW American Dissertation Fellowship, 2010-2011 ARCS Foundation Fellowship, 2010-2011 UC Eugene Cota Robles Fellowship, 2009-2010, 2005-2006 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2004-2009 AAS Beth Brown Memorial Prize (for best presentation at NSBP/NSHP meeting), 2009 Whitford Prize (for outstanding second year graduate student), UCSC Department of Astronomy, 2007 Alan H. Barrett Prize (for best astrophysics thesis), MIT Physics, 2004 Joel Matthew Orloff Award (for outstanding service in physics), MIT Physics, 2004 American Physical Society Corporate Minority Scholar, 2001-2002, 2000-2001
Contact Information
t: 617-253-3429
e: lopez@space.mit.edu
