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Assistant Professor, Physics & Astronomy, College of Science, Cal Poly Pomona

Breanna Binder studies the birth and death of massive stars, in the Milky Way and in nearby galaxies. She uses multiwavelength observations to study X-ray binaries — star systems composed of a black hole or neutron star that is gravitationally bound to a normal companion star  —  to better understand their formation and evolution. Students working with Binder have investigated black hole binaries, supernova “impostors,” and the remains of binary merger events. She also collaborates with Matthew Povich to study massive star clusters and H II regions.

 

She is the lead author is the lead author of a 2024 study that helps to narrow the list of possible target stellar systems for the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), slated for launch in the 2040s. The team analyzed stellar X-ray observation data already collected for nearby stars. After examining the brightness of the stars in the X-ray, and characterizing their variability – how often they flared and how much energy was discharged — the team identified 29 stars with radiation levels in their habitable zones similar to or less than what the Earth experiences from our Sun. Any planets in those zones could have conditions hospitable to life.

Recent Grants and Fellowships:

  • Co-Investigator, NASA Exoplanets Research Program, Assessing Atmospheric Impacts of X-ray and UV Irradiation on Earth-Like Planets in Directly Imageable Habitable Zones, ~$730,000 (2023)
  • Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation, Launching Early-Career Academic Pathways – Mathematical Physical Sciences, Investigating Metallicity and Stellar Age Effects on X-ray Binary Populations, ~$218,000 (2022)
  • Co-Investigator, National Science Foundation, Partnerships in Astronomy & Astrophysics Research and Education, Establishing a CSU Community of Expert Rubin Observatory Users, ~$700,000 (2022)
  • Principal Investigator, Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 29 guest observer program, The Missing Piece of the IC 10 X-1 Puzzle: What is the Mass of the Black Hole?, $54,000 (2021)
  • Principal Investigator, Director’s Discretionary Time on Swift Observatory and Chandra X-ray Observatory, The Missing Piece of the IC 10 X-1 Puzzle: What is the Mass of the Black Hole? (2021)
  • Co-Investigator, Gemini North Semester 2021B, The Missing Piece of the IC 10 X-1 Puzzle: What is the Mass of the Black Hole? (2021)
  • Co-Investigator, Chandra X-ray Observatory Cycle 22 guest observer program, Monitoring the X-ray Binary Population of M33, ~$50,000, (2020)
  • Principal Investigatory, Chandra X-ray Observatory Cycle 21 and Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 27 joint program, What is the Mass of the NGC 300 X-1 Black Hole?, ~$89,000 (2019)
  • Principal Investigator, Chandra Cycle 19: Characterizing the X-ray Emission From Stellar Bow Shocks and Their Driving Stars,”  ~$30,000 (2017)
  • Co-Investigator, Gemini South, Semester 2017A: Multiwavelength Monitoring of the Young HMXB SN 2010da (2017)
  • Co-Investigator, Gemini South, Semester 2016A: Rapid Spectroscopy of SN 2010da: Observing a Neutron Star + Luminous Blue Variable Binary in Outburst (2016)
  • Co-Investigator, HST Cycle 23: Finding and Aging High-Mass X-ray Binaries in M33, ~$60,000 (2014)
  • Co-Investigator, Chandra Cycle 16: A Chandra Legacy Survey of the Disk of M31, ~$140,000 (2014)
  • Principal Investigator, Chandra/HST Cycle 15: The Effect of Intermediate-Luminosity Transients on the X-ray Luminosity Functions of Spiral Disks, ~$100,000 (2013)

Selected Publications:

  • With S. Peacock, E.W. Schwieterman, M.C. Turnbull, A.Y. Virgen, S.R. Kane, A. Farrish, & K. Garcia-Sage; “X-Ray Emission of Nearby Low-mass and Sunlike Stars with Directly Imageable Habitable Zones,” The Astrophysical Journal, 2024
  • With Kyer, Albrecht, Williams, Hinton, Lazzarini, Garofali, Lehmer, Eracleous, Plucinsky and Antoniou, “Monitoring the X-Ray Variability of Bright X-Ray Sources in M33,” The Astrophysical Journal, 961, 168, 2024
  • With Williams, Payne, Eracleous, Belles and Williams, “A Panchromatic Study of the X-Ray Binary Population in NGC 300 on Subgalactic Scales,” The Astrophysical Journal, 969, 97, 2024
  • With Bhattacharya, Laycock, Chene, Christodoulou, Roy, Sorabella and Cappallo, “Probing the Stellar Wind of the Wolf-Rayet Star in IC 10 X-1,” The Astrophysical Journal, 944, 52, 2023
  • With Anderson, Garofali, Lazzarini and Williams, “The spatial correlation of high-mass X-ray binaries and young star clusters in nearby star-forming galaxies,” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 522, 5669, 2023
  • With Lazzarini, Hinton, Shariat, Williams, Garofali, Dalcanton, Durbin, Antoniou, Eracleous, Vulic, Yang, Wik, Gasca and Kuauhtzin, “Multiwavelength Characterization of the High-mass X-Ray Binary Population of M33,” The Astrophysical Journal, 952, 114, 2023
  • With Bhattacharya, Christodoulou, Chene, Laycock and Kazanas, “Accreting black holes skewing and bending the optical emission from massive Wolf-Rayet companions – a case study of IC10 X-1,” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 524, 4752, 2023
  • With Lehmer, Garofali, Binder, Fornasini, Vulic, Zezas, Hronschemeier, Lazzarini, Moon, Venters, Wik, Yukita, Bachetti, Garcia, Grefenstette, Madsen, Mori and Stern, “The high energy X-ray probe: resolved X-ray populations in extragalactic environments,” Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 10, 1093918, 2023
  • With Lazzarini, Williams, Durbin, Dalcanton, Antoniou, Eracleous, Plucinsky, Sasaki and Vulic, “Multiwavelength Characterization of the High-mass X-Ray Binary Population of M31,” The Astrophysical Journal, 906, 120, 2021
  • With Sy, Eracleous, Christodoulou, Bhattacharya, Cappallo, Laycock, Plucinsky and Williams, “The Wolf-Rayet + Black Hole Binary NGC 300 X-1: What is the Mass of the Black Hole?” The Astrophysical Journal, 910, 74, 2021
  • With Nunez, Povich, Townsley and Broos, “Characterizing the X-Ray Emission of Intermediate-mass Pre-main-sequence Stars,” The Astronomical Journal, 162, 153, 2021
  • With Jayasinghe, Dixon, Povich, Velasco, Lepore, Xu, Offner, Kobulnicky, Anderson, Kendrew and Simpson, “The Milky Way Project second data release: bubbles and bow shocks,” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 488, 114, 2019
  • With Vides, Macintosh, De Rosa, Ruffio and Savransky, “Model of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence with Coronagraphic Imaging,” The Astronomical Journal, 158, 207, 2019
  • With Carpano, Heida and Lau, “From SN 2010da to NGC 300 ULX-1: Ten Years of Observations of an Unusual High Mass X-Ray Binary in NGC 300,” Galaxies, 8, 17, 2019
  • With Behr and Povich, “Searching for Faint X-Ray Emission from Galactic Stellar Wind Bow Shocks,” The Astronomical Journal, 157, 176, 2019
  • With Gross, Williams, Pannuti, Garofali and Hanvey, “Multiwavelength Study of the X-Ray Bright Supernova Remnant N300-S26 in NGC 300,” The Astrophysical Journal, 877, 15, 2019
  • With Williams, Lazzarini, Plucinsky, Sasaki, Antoniou, Vulic, Eracleous, Long, Dalcanton, Lewis and Weisz, “Comparing Chandra and Hubble in the Northern Disk of M31,” ApJS, 239, 13, 2018
  • With Povich, “A Multiwavelength Look at Massive Galactic Star-Forming Regions,” ApJ, 864, 136, 2018
  • With Garofali, Williams, Hillis, Gilbert, Dolphin and Eracleous, “Formation Timescales for High Mass X-ray Binaries in M33,” MNRAS, 479, 3526, 2018
  • With Levesque and Dorn-Wallenstein,No Strong Geometric Beaming in the Ultraluminous Neutron Star Binary NGC 300 ULX-1 (SN 2010da) from Swift and Gemini,” ApJ, 863, 141, 2018
  • With Nguyen, Seth, den Brok, Neumayer, Cappellari, Barth, Caldwell and Williams, “Improved Dynamical Constraints on the Mass of the Central Black Hole in NGC 404,” ApJ, 836, 237, 2017
  • With Laycock, Christodoulou, Williams and Prestwich, “Blue Supergiant X-ray Binaries in the Nearby Dwarf Galaxy IC 10,” ApJ, 836, 51, 2017
  • With Laycock, Cappallo, Williams and Prestwich, “The X-ray Binary Population of the Nearby Dwarf Starburst Galaxy IC 10: Variable and Transient X-ray Sources,” ApJ, 836, 50, 2017 
  • With Gross, Williams, Eracleous, Gaetz, Plucinsky and Skillman, “The Effect of Variability on X-ray Binary Luminosity Functions: Multiple Epoch Observations of NGC 300 with Chandra,” ApJ, 834, 128, 2017

Interviews:

Education:

B.S., Physics, University of California, San Diego

M.S. and Ph.D., Astronomy, University of Washington

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