Joel Kastner
Professor
Joel Kastner
Professor
Education
BS, University of Maryland; MS, Ph.D., University of California
Bio
- Joel Kastner (Ph.D. in Astronomy, UCLA 1990) is a Professor on the faculty of Rochester Institute of Technology’s Center for Imaging Science and School of Physics & Astronomy. He was the founding Director of RIT's Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics.
- Prior to his two decades at RIT, Prof. Kastner spent almost a decade at MIT, first as Bantrell Postdoc at MIT Haystack Radio Observatory and then as staff scientist with MIT's side of the Chandra (then AXAF) X-ray Science Center.
- Prof. Kastner's research interests lie in the early and late stages of stellar evolution -- i.e., the formative stages of stars and planetary systems, and their death throes. He has conducted observations of forming and dying stars and stellar systems across a broad swath of the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio to X-rays.
- Prof. Kastner was among the original group of (roughly 230) astronomers named as "Legacy" Fellows of the American Astronomical Society in 2020, and presently serves as Chair of the AAS Committee on Employment.
- A complete list of Prof. Kastner's publications can be found at this link to NASA's Astrophysics Data System.
Currently Teaching
In the News
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December 8, 2022
![rings of gas and dust around a nebula in space, with two inset images showing the detail of the dust rings.]()
New James Webb Space Telescope study outlines ‘the messy death of a multiple star system’
Scientists have reconstructed what they call “the messy death of a multiple star system” using some of the first images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, plus existing data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia observatory. RIT scientists contributed to a Nature Astronomy paper outlining how the Southern Ring Nebula received its unique shape.
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November 21, 2022
![graphic reads: research news.]()
Dozens of RIT researchers included on Stanford University’s list of the world’s top 2% of scientists
Numerous Rochester Institute of Technology faculty, professors emeriti, and postdoctoral researchers were recognized as top-cited scientists in their fields, according to a Stanford University study published by Elsevier.
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August 29, 2022
![side-by-side images of the Jewel Bug Nebula, with the left showing purples and blues and the right showing reds, blues, and greens.]()
RIT scientists to study molecular makeup of planetary nebulae using radio telescopes
By using radio telescopes to study sun-like stars in their death throes, scientists hope to reveal important information about the origin of life-enabling chemicals in the universe. The NSF is awarding a $339,362 grant to a team led by Professor Joel Kastner to conduct such a study.
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November 18, 2022
Team co-authors astrophysics book chapter
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July 12, 2022
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope made with help from Rochester