Robin Ciardullo

Robin Ciardullo is a Professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Penn State University. He has been a faculty member since 1990 and currently serves as the Observing Manager for the Hobby Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX).

• Education
  • Undergraduate: Yale University
  • Ph.D. in Astronomy: University of California, Los Angeles (1986)

Research Interests

• Extragalactic Astronomy
  • High-redshift emission-line galaxies
  • Galaxy evolution
  • Cosmic distance scale
  • Dark matter
  • Ionized gas in galaxies
  • Stellar populations
  • Intracluster stars
• Stellar Astronomy
  • Planetary nebulae
  • Post-asymptotic giant branch (Post-AGB) stars
  • Novae
  • Globular clusters
• Interstellar Medium
  • Physics of ionization
  • Emission line analysis

Professional Roles

• Observing Manager, HETDEX (Hobby Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment)
• Member of all four HETDEX science working groups
• Co-investigator for the 100 square Degree in Narrow-Band (ODIN) survey for Lyα galaxies
• Chair, Users Committee for the US National Optical Astronomy Observatories
• Member, US Gemini Telescope Science Advisory Committee
• Member, NSF Program Review Committee for NoirLab

Laboratory & Team Affiliations

Robin leads observational operations for HETDEX, focusing on dark energy studies and large-scale galaxy surveys. His work involves collaboration with the ODIN survey team, which investigates Lyα galaxies in cosmological contexts.

Contact Information

• Email: rbc3@psu.edu
• Email: rbc@astro.psu.edu
• Office: 428A Davey Laboratory, Penn State University
• Phone: (814) 865-6601
• FAX: (814) 863-3399