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Michael Zemcov

Associate Professor Michael Zemcov is a co-investigator of NASA’s SPHEREx Observatory, which will provide an all-sky spectral survey of galaxies and stars providing scientists with data never before received. SPHEREx also will explore the origin of water in planetary systems.

Scientists from RIT, Caltech, Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan, and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute will launch a rocket on Sunday for a short flight into space with the goal of resolving discrepancies about the sources of near-infrared light in the universe.

RIT has been expanding its research footprint to accommodate the university’s growing research portfolio. The Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED), which opens this fall, is enabling the university to convert 10 existing classrooms, totaling more than 23,000 square feet, into new research space. Another 14,700 square feet of research space opened in January in Brown Hall.

In a study led by RIT researchers, scientists analyzed new measurements showing that the light emitted by stars outside our galaxy is two to three times brighter than the light from known populations of galaxies, challenging assumptions about the number and environment of stars are in the universe.