Sumner Starrfield

Sumner Starrfield is a Regents' Professor of Astrophysics at Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration. He specializes in computational astrophysics, focusing on stellar explosions such as novae, recurrent novae, X-ray bursts, and Type Ia supernova progenitors. His research employs advanced hydrodynamic modeling and observational data from telescopes like Hubble, Chandra, and Spitzer.

Education: B.A. University of California, Berkeley; M.S. and Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles.

Research interests include studying accretion processes onto white dwarfs, light echo modeling of V838 Mon, and spectral analysis of novae using SWIFT and Spitzer. He collaborates with major space missions including the Advanced Compton Telescope and the Destiny concept study.

Current projects involve 3D dust modeling around V838 Mon, X-ray observations of novae like V723 Cas, and exploring metallicity effects on nova outbursts. Starrfield is also part of the INTEGRAL satellite Users Committee.