Andy Ptak
Research Astrophysicist in the X-ray astrophyiscs lab (code 662) at NASA/GSFC
Work phone: 301-286-1154
Email: andrew.ptak -at- nasa.gov
CV (as of Feb 2024)
Current duties:
HEASARC acting directorHST Deputy Project Scientist for Operations
NASA Athena Project Scientist
Technical Officer for the JHU/GSFC co-operative agreement
Research/Projects
My main research interests are:
- The X-ray properties of starburst, LINER, low-luminosity AGN, and AGN galaxies, the evolution of these types of galaxies over time, and the contribution of galaxies to the X-ray background.
- The physics of the accretion and starburst processes driving the X-ray emission from galaxies.
- Pipeline-processing of large data sets, with emphasis on observations of galaxies and advanced statistical techniques.
I am a member of the X-ray galaxy group at GSFC.
I am a co-chair of the galactic outflows Athena Science Working Group (SWG 2.3)
I am project scientist on the AXIS X-ray probe proposal. AXIS would have 10X the area of Chandra and would have 1" on-axis, 1.5" FoV-averaged HPD spatial resolution across a 28' diameter FoV.
I am also the project scientists on the Arcus Probe proposal concept. Arcus is an high-throughput, high-resoultion X-ray and UV gratings mission that will study hot gas around galaxies, gas accreting onto black holes and neutron stars, and stellar corona.
