Interests: Astronomy, Cosmology, Big Bang
Present Position:
Staff astronomer at the Paranal Observatory, which is part of the European Southern Observatory. My research interests are focused on AGN and radio galaxy topics, as investigated through both Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and ground-based data.
Education:
University of Padova, Padova, Italy, with the attainment in 1992 of the laurea doctoral degree in Astronomy, defending the thesis "Optical spectrophotometry of BL Lacertae objects"'; supervisors Prof. C. Barbieri and Dr. R. Falomo.
Postdoctoral Positions:
From 1997 to 2000, I held a postdoctoral position at the Space Telescope Science Institute, working with C. Megan Urry. In 1996 I worked at the Space Telescope Science Institute as a Padova University Fellow. During 1994-95 I worked at Padova University and at the Space Telescope Science Institute as a postdoctoral fellow of the Italian "Ing. Aldo Gini'' foundation. After the attainment of my doctoral degree in 1992, I performed research at the Department of Astronomy of Padova University and, at the same time, I taught mathematics and physics in Italian high school.
Personal skills:
During several years of research on active galactic nuclei, I gained solid experience in both observing at the telescope and reducing optical ground- and space-based observations. More specifically, the observational techniques I most used are photometry, HST imaging, and low and moderate dispersion spectroscopy. The experience acquired enabled me to carry out, from proposal to publication, a complete observing program involving the use of the most advanced optical instrumentation.
Dr. Riccardo Scarpa of the European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile. His job involves working with the magnificent Very Large Telescope array at Paranal, and I guess that makes him the envy of just about every astronomer with blood in his veins!
