Alyssa Goodman's Research Agenda, v. 2025 (for Prospective Students at Harvard)

Making a 3D movie of the star forming milky way

A very short presentation about Alyssa Goodman's astronomy-related research agenda at this point in time.

Slides highlight the following projects:

Handout attached here discusses "Dimensions of Discovery" effort at the CfA, which includes several of the efforts listed above, plus Goodman's NASA Cosmic Data Stories STEM education effort.

AI (ChatGPT) abstract of the slides

"This presentation outlines a groundbreaking effort to visualize and model the Milky Way in three dimensions, leveraging unprecedented observational data and software tools. Led by Alyssa Goodman and collaborators, the project integrates advanced 3D dust mapping and multidimensional data exploration, utilizing tools like glue and the Worldwide Telescope. The work emphasizes the dynamic nature of star formation, cloud evolution, and galactic structure, illustrating how bubbles, clouds, and stars continuously form, interact, and dissipate over varying timescales.

A key component of this research is the development of an agent-based model for stellar evolution within the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM). This approach allows for tracking individual stars from formation through their migration and interaction with the ISM, providing insights into how young stars acquire velocity and move away from their birth environments—an open question in astrophysics.

By combining large-scale observational data, new simulation techniques, and artificial intelligence, this initiative, which makes use of MilkyWay3D.org, also founded by Goodman and colleagues, aims to revolutionize our understanding of how the Milky Way’s structure emerges and evolves over cosmic timescales."

Links to Keynote and video versions of the slides (temporary, will be updated to Dataverse)

See also: