IPAC, located on the Caltech campus, is not under direct threat from local fires at this time, though it is subject to the effects of strong winds and poor air quality. Many members of the IPAC community have been impacted by these events, and IPAC will follow Caltech guidance on closures and safe operations. For more information, visit Caltech’s Emergency Updates page at http://www.caltech.edu/emergency.

Science at IPAC

Our community of active researchers is key to the strategic development and execution of all programs supported by IPAC. IPAC scientific staff are engaged in forefront research spanning a broad range of fields in astrophysics and planetary sciences. Areas of special focus include exoplanets; dark energy and cosmology; star formation and galaxy evolution; asteroids and the solar system; and the area in which IPAC has provided leadership for over three decades -- exploration of the infrared and sub-mm universe.

Latest Research Publications

NEOWISE-R Caught the Luminous SN 2023ixf in Messier 101

December 2024 • Van Dyk, Schuyler D. • Szalai, Tamás • Cutri, Roc M. • et al.

During routine survey imaging, the reactivated Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE-R) serendipitously caught the Type II supernova SN 2023ixf in Messier 101 on the rise, starting day 3.6 through day 10.9, and again on the decline at late times from days 211 through 213 and days 370 through 372. We have considered these mid-IR data together with observations from the ultraviolet (UV) through the near-IR, when possible. At day 3.6 we approximated the optical emission with a hot, ∼26,630 K blackbody, with a notable UV excess inferred to result from strong supernova (SN) shock interaction with circumstellar matter (CSM). In the IR, however, a clear excess is also obvious, and we fit it with a cooler, ∼1620 K blackbody with a radius of ∼2.6 × 10¹⁵ cm,...

Schuyler Van Dyk

Senior Scientist

Research Interests: Supernovae--progenitors, environments, dust; massive stars & their evolution.