Massimo Marengo
Faculty
Ph.D. SISSA/ISAS Trieste, Italy (2000)
Astronomy
A313E Zaffarano
515-294-2958
Research Interests
I am an observational astrophysicist. My my research interests are the study of evolved stars (in particular Cepheids, Giants and Supergiants) and the interactions between their dusty stellar winds and the interstellar medium. I am also interested in the study of young planetary systems, where planets interact with the rocky leftovers of stellar formation. While these studies are based on observations and models aimed to understand these phenomena as they appear at all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, I specialize in Infrared (thermal) astronomy. My observations are obtained from large aperture ground-based telescopes and space observatories like the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Hubble Telescope and the Herschel Space Telescope.
Education and Academic History
- 2009 - present: Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University
- 2003 - 2009: Astrophysicist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Optical and Infrared Division, Spitzer/IRAC Instrument Team
- 2000 - 2003: Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, High Energy Division
- 1997 - 2000: Smithsonian Predoctoral Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Optical and Infrared Division
- 2000: Ph. D. in Astrophysics, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA/ISAS), Trieste, Italy
- 1993: Laurea cum Laude (M. Sc.) in Physics, University of Torino, Italy
Selected Publications
- Spitzer/IRAC Limits to Planetary Companions of Fomalhaut and epsilon Eridani, Marengo, M. et al. 2009, The Astrophysical Journal, 700, 1647
- A Review of AGB Mass Loss Imaging Techniques, Marengo, M. 2009, Pub. of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 26, 356
- A k-NN Method to Classify Rare Astronomical Sources: Photometric Search of Brown Dwarfs with Spitzer/IRAC, Marengo, M. & Sanchez, M. C. 2009, The Astronomical Journal, 138, 63
- Imaging the Cool Hypergiant NML Cygni's Dusty Circumstellar Envelope with Adaptive Optics, Schuster, M. T., Marengo, M. et al. 2009, The Astrophysical Journal, 699, 1423
- Epsilon Eridani Planetary Disk: Structure and Dynamics Based on Spitzer and CSO Observations, Backman, D. Marengo, M. et al. 2009, The Astrophysical Journal, 690, 1522
- The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) for the Spitzer Space Telescope, Fazio, G. G. et al. 2004, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement, 154, 10
- Theoretical Limb Darkening for Classical Cepheids: II. Corrections for the Geometrical Baade-Wesselink Method, Marengo, M. et al. 2003, The Astrophysical Journal, 589, 968
- Smoking Quasars: A New Source for Cosmic Dust, Elvis, M., Marengo, M. & Karovska, M. 2002, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 567, L107
- Theoretical Limb Darkening for Pulsating Cepheids, Marengo, M. et al. 2002, The Astrophysical Journal, 657, 1131
- 100-Year Mass Loss Modulation on the Asymptotic Giant Branch, Marengo, M., Ivezic, Z. & Knapp, G. R. 2001, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 324, 1117
- Mid-Infrared Observations of the Mira Circumstellar Environment, Marengo, M. et al. 2001, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 556, L47
