Eleonora Troja is an Italian astrophysicist. In 2017 she led the discovery of

X-ray emission Astrophysical X-ray sources are astronomical objects with physical properties which result in the emission of X-rays. Several types of astrophysical objects emit X-rays. They include galaxy clusters, black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGN), ...

from the gravitational wave source

GW170817 GW 170817 was a gravitational wave (GW) signal observed by the LIGO and Virgo detectors on 17 August 2017, originating from the shell elliptical galaxy . The signal was produced by the last minutes of a binary pair of neutron stars' inspir ...

Education

Troja completed a B.A. in physics and astronomy at University of Palermo in 2002. She completed a thesis, ''X-ray spectroscopy of He-like ions in optically thin astrophysical plasmas'', under supervisor Giovanni Peres. Troja earned a M.Phil. in physics and astronomy at Palermo in 2005 under Fabio Reale. Her graduate thesis was titled ''XMM-Newton observations of the supernova remnant IC 443: analysis of the thermal X-ray emission''. She completed a Ph.D. in physics and astronomy in 2009 under advisor Giancarlo Cusumano. Her dissertation was titled ''Gamma-ray bursts in the Swift era: evidence of long lived central engines and implications for progenitor models''. From July 2009 to July 2012, Troja was a postdoctoral fellow at

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC empl ...

(GSFC) under advisor Neil Gehrels.

Career

In July 2013, Troja became the Swift Guest Investigator Program Lead at NASA GSFC. In 2021 she joined the

University of Rome Tor Vergata Tor Vergata University of Rome, also known as the University of Rome II ( it, Università degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata"), is a public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. Located in the southeastern suburb of Rome, the ...

as Associate Professor.

Research

Troja researches high energy astrophysics,

gamma-ray bursts In gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are immensely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the most energetic and luminous electromagnetic events since the Big Bang. Bursts can last from ten millise ...

(GRB), and electromagnetic counterparts of

gravitational waves Gravitational waves are waves of the intensity of gravity generated by the accelerated masses of an orbital binary system that Wave propagation, propagate as waves outward from their source at the speed of light. They were first proposed by Oliv ...

. In her career Troja worked on a variety of different aspects of the GRB phenomenon, although her focus is the connection between short duration GRBs, neutron star mergers, and gravitational wave sources. In 2017 she led the discovery of

from the gravitational wave source

. Troja's main interest is to investigate the observational signatures of compact binary mergers, that is, binary systems composed by either two neutron stars (NS-NS) or a neutron star and a black hole (NS-BH) which slowly spiral into each other and eventually collide due to energy losses to gravitational radiation. Compact binary mergers lie at the intersection of several key aspects of modern astrophysics: * they are the most likely cause of short duration gamma-ray bursts; * they are strong sources of gravitational wave radiation, and prime candidates for direct detection with advanced LIGO and Virgo; * they are the most promising r-process sites for the formation of all the heavy elements (i.e. gold, platinum, uranium, …) found on Earth. These three fundamental areas of investigation are at the core of Troja's research.

Awards and honors

Troja has won the following awards: *

NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal The NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (abbreviated ESAM) was established by NASA on September 15, 1961, when the original ESM was divided into three separate awards. Under the current guidelines, the ESAM is awarded for unusually sign ...

(2021) * NASA Silver Achievement Medal (2018) *Italian Bilateral Scientific Cooperation Award (2018) to recognize an Italian eminent scientist who, in performing his/her research abroad, has made a remarkable contribution to the advancement of science and technology, thus improving Italy’s S&T relations with foreign countries and with International Organizations.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Troja, Eleonora Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Italian physicists 21st-century Italian astronomers Italian astrophysicists Women astrophysicists 21st-century Italian women scientists NASA people University of Palermo alumni University of Maryland, College Park faculty Italian expatriates in the United States Expatriate academics in the United States Italian women physicists Scientists from Sicily