CHRISTINA LACEY, Assistant Professor

Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of South Carolina
712 Main Street
Columbia, South Carolina 29208
(803) 777-6089
For further information visit my homepage
clacey@mail.psc.sc.edu

Research Interests

I am primarily intersted in the initial explosion and evolution of massive star supernovae, which are enormous explosions that destroy massive stars at the end of their lifetimes.

I use multi-wavelength observations to probe the evolutionary sequence for supernovae and supernova remnants. The primary observatories used are the Very Large Array (VLA) and the 4 m Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak Observatory, as well as X-ray data from Chandra, XMM, and ROSAT. In particular, the radio observations are critical to this work. The shock fromt of the remnant produces large amounts of radio emission as it encounters previously expelled circumstellar material and eventually plows up significant amounts of the interstellar medium.

Supernovae are very important, not only in understanding shock physics adn remnant evolution, but also due to their global influence on galactic evolution through their enormous energy input into the interstellar medium in galaxies and their role in cosmic ray acceleration.

I am also involved in the effort to utilize the low frequency (330 and 74 MHz) systems at the VLA and to use full-field imaging, which is currently undergoing a revolution as new techniques are being developed to produce high-fidelity, large field (15 degree across) images for the first time.

Selected Publications

"Cosmic-Ray Production and the Role of Supernovae in NGC 6946"
C.K. Lacey and N. Duric, Astrophysical Journal, 560, 719, 2001.

"Spatially Resolved Thermal Continuum Absorption against Supernova Remnant W49B"
C.K. Lacey, T.J.W. Lazio, N. Kassim, N. Duric, D.S. Briggs, and K.K. Dyer, Astrophysics Journal, 559, 954, 2001.

"Radio Continuum Imaging of the Siral Galaxy NGC 4258"
S.D. Hyman, D. Calle, K.W. Weiler, C.K. Lacey, S.D. Van Dyk, and R. Sramek, Astrophysics Journal, 551, 702, 2001.

"An X-Ray, Optical, and Radio Search for Supernova Remnants in Nearby Sculptor Group Sd Galaxy NGC 300"
T.G. Pannuti, N. Duric, C.K. Lacey, W.M. Goss, C.G Hoopes, R.A.M. Walterbos, and M.A. Magnor, Astrophysics Journal, 544, 780, 2000.

"Radio Observations of SN 1979C: Evidence for Rapid Presupernova Evolution"
M.J. Montes, K.W. Weiler, S.D. Van Dyk, N. Panagia, C.K. Lacey, R.A. Sramek, and R. Park, Astrophysics Journal, ApJ, 532, 1124, 2000.

"Discrete Radio Sources in the Spiral Galaxy NGC6946"
S.D. Hyman, C.K. Lacey, K.W. Weiler, and S.D. Van Dyk, Astrophysics Journal, 119, 171, 2000.

by Richard Hoskins
and copyright © 1998, The Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina.
URL http://boson.physics.sc.edu/~physmgr/FacultyStaff/Brlacey.html