Science News - In the midst of a pandemic that has brought so much worry and loss, it’s natural to want to help — to do some small part to solve a problem, to counter pain, or to, importantly, remind others that there is beauty and wonder in the world. Scientists have long been doing just that. Many are chasing answers to the myriad challenges that people face every day, and revealing the rewards in the pursuit of knowledge itself. It’s in that spirit that we present this year’s SN 10: Scientists to Watch.
Alessandra Corsi, 40
Astrophysicist
Affiliation: Texas Tech University
Hometown: Rome, Italy
Favorite telescope: Very Large Array, New Mexico
Standout research
On September 3, 2017, Alessandra Corsi finally saw what she had been waiting for since
mid-August: a small dot in her telescope images that was the radio afterglow of a
neutron star collision. That stellar clash, discovered by the Advanced Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-Wave Observatory team, or LIGO, which included Corsi, was the first
direct sighting of a neutron star collision (SN: 10/16/17). The event, dubbed GW170817,
was also the first of any kind seen in both gravitational waves and light waves.