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Astronomy
Department

Welcome!

I am an astronomer at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Here you can get a glimpse of my research activtities.

How galaxies get their gas and how much mass, energy, and metals galaxies return to their surroundings are questions central to our understanding of galaxies and the intergalactic medium. Only stars synthesize metals. Yet only about half of the generated elements are found in stars and the interstellar medium. Galaxies are also missing their share of baryonic matter. Understanding the  flows of the matter/energy in and around galaxies, or their "ecosystem'', is the
focus of my research.

A key to the understanding of the matter and energy flows is the study of various high-energy feedback processes in galaxies. I have concentrated on four closely-related aspects of this research topic:
  1. examining various high-energy sources of the interstellar medium (e.g., supernova remnants, superbubbles, and galactic nuclear regions);
  2. characterizing the global structure as well as the physical and chemical states of hot gas in and around galaxies; 
  3. investigating the interplay of the hot gas with other galactic components;
  4. exploring the interaction of galaxies with their environment, particularly the intragroup/cluster media.
I primarily uses infrared, ultraviolet, and X-ray observations to conduct these studies. I also carry out theoretical and computational studies with my students and collaborators.

Brief CV
Publication as appeared on ADS (missing a few that used the name Wang, Q., though)

Research Projects

  • Galactic Nuclear Regions:
    • Hubble/NICMOS survey of the Galactic center
      near-IR continuum and Paschen-Alpha  line mapping over a 32'x13' field of view around Sgr A* in 144 orbits.
    • Wide-field, deep Chandra survey of the Galactic Center.
    • Multi-band Infrared Mapping of the Galactic Nuclear Region:
      • SED fits to individual stars
      • testing extinction laws toward
      • extinction mapping
      • searching for massive stars
      • mapping out the intrinsic stellar distribution
      • examining star formation history and star formation mode in the region.
    • Nature of the X-ray emission from the Galactic bulge
    • Multi-wavelength study of the nuclear region and outflow of M31 (a story in space.com).
  •  Galactic Feedback and Ecosystem of Galaxies:

Students and Postdocs

    • UMass graduate students whom I am working with: Shawn Roberts, Michael Petersen, Frank Ripple, David Welch, Seth Johnson, Zhankui Lu, and Xu Xiaojie (visiting graduate student from Nanjing University)
    • Postdoc: Jiangtao Li
    • Former Students and Postdocs/Visiting Scholars

Selected recent talks