McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences McDonnell Center Research Overview Research topics in the space sciences at Washington University cover a broad range, extending from the structure of the universe as a whole to stars, planets, specimens from meteorites, the moon, and Earth, and microscopic tracks left by single atoms. Professor Ray Arvidson, Chairman of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department studies images of northern Nevada taken from the Mars prototype Rover for the 2003 Mars Mission rehearsal. The astrophysical environment provides conditions unavailable in the laboratory for grand-scale testing of fundamental laws of physics.
Some astronomical objects exhibit rapid fluctuations in their outputs of radiation.
Among these are recently discovered X-ray sources, the distant and energetic quasars, and BL Lac objects. These are being studied through telescopes with fast electro-optical instruments that measure fluctuations in radiation intensity and polarization that occur in less than one millisecond. New methods of optical spectroscopy are being used to determine compositions of distant interstellar gas and dust grains and cometary matter. These studies are complemented by laboratory laser spectroscopic studies of substances of astrophysical interest. Compositions are compared with those estimated in light of theoretical considerations of creation of the chemical elements by nucleosynthesis in stars.