Philip Kaaret's Web Page

Contact Information
Prof. Philip Kaaret
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242 USA

Phone: 1-319-335-1985
Fax: 1-319-335-1753
Cell: 1-646-388-3893
Office: 702 Van Allen Hall
Lab: 626 Van Allen Hall
E-mail: philip-kaaret [at] uiowa.edu
Web: http://astro.physics.uiowa.edu/~kaaret


Teaching
Fall 2019 - Scientific Computing Using Python
Fall 2018 - Scientific Computing Using Python
Spring 2018 - Astronomical Laboratory
Fall 2016 - High Energy Astrophysics
Spring 2016 - Introductory Physics I
Fall 2015 - Astronomical Laboratory
Spring 2015 - Introduction to Astrophysics II
Fall 2014 - Introduction to Astrophysics I
Spring 2014 - General Astronomy II
Fall 2013 - Astronomical Laboratory
Spring 2013 - General Astronomy II
Fall 2012 - Extragalactic Astronomy
Fall 2011 - Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe
Spring 2011 - General Astronomy II
Spring 2010 - High Energy Astrophysics
Spring 2009 - Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe
Fall 2007 - X-rays and detectors lecture
Spring 2007 - General Astronomy II
Fall 2006 - High Energy Astrophysics
Spring 2006 - General Astronomy II
Spring 2005 - Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe
Fall 2004 - Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe

Research
Kaaret's main interest is understanding the intense gravitational fields surrounding black holes and neutron stars and the dynamics of the accretion of matter onto these objects. He builds instrumentation for the X-ray and gamma-ray bands and conducts observations at X-ray, gamma-ray, optical, and radio wavelengths of objects in our Milky Way galaxy and in relatively nearby galaxies. His current work concerns the highly luminous X-ray sources in nearby galaxies which have been interpreted as being intermediate-mass or "medium-sized" black holes, jet ejection from black holes, and the construction of NASA's new mission for X-ray polarimetry the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS).

Press coverage
University of Iowa takes aim at black holes
Einstein proven right about space-time: UI expert explains significance
HaloSat satellite will search for 'missing' normal matter
17-year-old researches telescopes, gamma rays
Students text International Space Station using a 20-foot antenna
No Big Black Hole for Two ULXs
Giant Blast of X-Rays Traced to Dead Star
The Mystery of the Missing Black Holes
UI team to aid NASA in quest for understanding of black holes
A Black Hole in Medusa's Hair
Giant star orbiting black hole on USA Today
Medium-Sized Black Hole on CNN
Black Hole Jets on CNN

Links
HaloSat
VERITAS Gamma-Ray Observatory
Chandra X-Ray Observatory
NASA HEASARC
Stellar X-Ray Polarimeter
Imagine the Universe

X-ray data
X-ray interactions with matter
X-ray data booklet
X-ray line energies
Photon Cross Sections (XCOM)

Vita
Philip Kaaret is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Iowa. He received a B.S. in Physics in 1984 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University in 1989. Kaaret was on the faculty of the Physics Department at Columbia University in New York City from 1990 to 1998. He was an Astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and a member of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics from 1998 to 2004. He was an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Iowa from 2004 to 2008.

Bibliography
Kaaret's publications in Scientific Journals