- Associate Professor
Biography
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Professor Baldassare is an observational astrophysicist who specializes in searching for massive black holes in dwarf galaxies. This population of black holes is of key importance for constraining models of black hole formation. Her research group uses a variety of observatories and techniques to find and study active black holes. In particular, we use time domain observations to look for characteristic changes in a galaxy’s brightness due to gas swirling around a black hole.
Prof. Baldassare is a member of the Young Supernova Experiment – a time domain survey using the Pan-STARRS telescopes in Hawaii, and the Merian Survey – an observational program designed to take a census of nearby dwarf galaxies.
Education
- PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Michigan
- BA in Physics, Hunter College
Research Interests
- active galactic nuclei
- intermediate mass black holes
- dwarf galaxies
- transients and variability
Selected Publications
Google scholar (link)
- Active Dwarf Galaxy Database. I. Overlap between Active Galactic Nuclei Selected by Different Techniques. Wasleske, E. and Baldassare, V. F. The Astrophysical Journal (2024), 971, 1
- A fast-rising tidal disruption event from a candidate intermediate-mass black hole. Angus, C. R., Baldassare, V.F., et al. Nature Astronomy (2022), 6, 1452
- A Search for Optical AGN Variability in 35,000 Low-mass Galaxies with the Palomar Transient Factory. Baldassare, V. F., Geha, M., and Greene, J. E. The Astrophysical Journal (2020), 896, 1