Lawrence Rudnick

Lawrence "Larry" Rudnick
Professor Emeritus, School of Physics and AstronomyContact
John T. Tate Hall Room 270 116 Church Street SeMinneapolis, MN 55455
Affiliations
Education
Ph.D., Princeton University, 1974
M.A., Princeton University, 1972
B.A., Cornell University, 1970
Professional Background
Rudnick is an observational astrophysicist studying clusters of galaxies and other large-scale structures in the Universe He uses a wide variety of ground and spaced-based telescopes in the radio, X-ray, infrared and optical portions of the spectrum. Citizen Science projects, and more recently, explorations of machine learning on large surveys contribute to this work. He is heavily involved in public outreach activities and is currently working on the design of the new Bell Museum of Natural History and Planetarium targeted to open in 2018. For 14 years (1983-96) he was a consultant and on-screen expert for public TV’s Newton’s Apple. Rudnick also is involved in the design of major new radio surveys in the U.S. and Australia, and conducts workshops on science communication and teaching in departments across the University.
Scientific & Professional Societies
- American Astronomical Society (AAS)
- International Astronomical Union (IAU)
- Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP)
Interactions of astrophysical relativistic and thermal plasmas in clusters of galaxies. Formation of cosmic large-scale structure and magnetic fields. Studied through radio, X-ray and optical observations, and citizen science projects. [MIfA Website]
Honors and Awards
- Distinguished Teaching Professor of Astronomy, 1987 – present
- University of Minnesota Award for Outstanding Community Service, 2005
- Interim Chair, Dept. of Astronomy, 2004-2005
- George Taylor (IT) Distinguished Service Award, 2004
- Morse-Alumni Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education, 1998
- Director of Graduate Studies, (Astronomy), 1980-1994
- IT Outstanding Teaching Award in Astronomy, 1991
- George Taylor / IT Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award, 1990
Selected Publications
- Storm, Emma; Jeltema, Tesla E.; Rudnick, Lawrence, Sankrit, Ravi; Blair, William P.; Frattare, Lisa M.; Rudnick, L.; A radio and X-ray study of the merging cluster A2319. DeLaney, Tracey; Harrus, Ilana M.; Ennis, Jessica A., Hubble Space Telescope/advanced Camera for Surveys Narrowband Imaging of the Kepler Supernova Remnant, 2015, MNRAS 448, 2495S
- Rudnick, L.; Owen, F. N., The Distribution of Polarized Radio Sources >15 microJy in GOODS-N, 2014, ApJ 785, 45
- DeLaney, Tracey; Kassim, Namir E.; Rudnick, Lawrence; Perley, R. A., The Density and Mass of Unshocked Ejecta in Cassiopeia A through Low Frequency Radio Absorption, 2014, ApJ 785, 7D
- Farnsworth, Damon; Rudnick, Lawrence; Brown, Shea; Brunetti, Gianfranco, Discovery of Megaparsec-scale, Low Surface Brightness Nonthermal Emission in Merging Galaxy Clusters Using the Green Bank Telescope, 2013 ApJ 779, 189
- Brunetti, G.; Rudnick, L.; Cassano, R.; Mazzotta, P.; Donnert, J.; Dolag, K., Is the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect responsible for the observed steepening in the spectrum of the Coma radio halo?, 2013 A&A 558, 52
- Sankrit, Ravi; Blair, William P.; Frattare, Lisa M.; Rudnick, L.; DeLaney, Tracey; Harrus, Ilana M.; Ennis, Jessica A., Hubble Space Telescope/advanced Camera for Surveys Narrowband Imaging of the Kepler Supernova Remnant, AJ (2008)
- Rho, J.; Kozasa, T.; Reach, W. T.; Smith, J. D.; Rudnick, L.; DeLaney, T.; Ennis, J. A.; Gomez, H.; Tappe, A. , Freshly Formed Dust in the Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant as Revealed by the Spitzer Space Telescope, ApJ (2008)
- Juett, Adrienne M.; Sarazin, Craig L.; Clarke, Tracy E.; Andernach, Heinz; Ehle, Matthias; Fujita, Yutaka; Kempner, Joshua C.; Roy, Alan L.; Rudnick, Lawrence; Slee, O. Bruce , A Chandra Observation of Abell 13: Investigating the Origin of the Radio Relic, ApJ (2008)
- Rudnick, Lawrence, Extragalactic Jets: Reflections on the 2007 Alaska Conference (Invited Review), (2007)
- Rudnick, Lawrence; Brown, Shea; Williams, Liliya R., Extragalactic Radio Sources and the WMAP Cold Spot, ApJ (2007)