Jonathan Trump, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Physics University of Connecticut

  • Storrs CT

Jonathan Trump is an observational astronomer who studies active galaxies

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Spotlight

2 min

Watching the solar eclipse Monday? Our expert has advice on how to do it safely

It's being called a "once in a lifetime" opportunity and Monday's solar eclipse has almost everybody on the continent talking as well as planning and preparing to get a glimpse of this rare astronomical moment. Amid the excitement is a need for people to view the event safely, which is why NBC Connecticut recently caught up with UConn Associate Professor of Physics Jonathan Trump to explain what's happening and, if you're going to be gazing upwards, what you need to know and how to do it without getting hurt. An astronomical celebration is just around the corner. But if you want to see the solar eclipse for yourself, there are steps you need to take to do so safely. First and foremost: to watch this out-of-this-world display April 8, don’t even think about looking right at the sun. “Most important thing, do not look directly at the solar eclipse with your eyes,” said UConn associate professor of physics Jonathan Trump. “Here in Connecticut the eclipse will be about 90% which is pretty spectacular, but even 10% of the sun’s light is a lot of the sun’s light.” UConn is one of many organizations around the state holding a celebration and viewing event. “The next one is not going to be for another 20 years, so yeah this is a special event,” said Trump. Sunglasses aren’t strong enough to protect your retinas from these UV rays. “The ultraviolet light is what give us sunburns and it can severely damage the retina in the back of your eye and permanently scar your vision. So do not look directly at the sun,” said Trump. You can view the solar eclipse safely with certified solar eclipse glasses. If you wear eyeglasses, put the solar eclipse glasses on top of your glasses. And if you have solar eclipse glasses from the last phenomena visible stateside, which was seven years ago, you should get a new pair. Experts we spoke to say they have no more than a three-year shelf life.  Looking to know more?  Jonathan Trump is an observational astronomer and is available to speak with reporters about Monday's eclipse. Simply click on his icon now to arrange a time to talk today.

Jonathan Trump, Ph.D.

Biography

Jonathan Trump is an observational astronomer who studies active galaxies, which are galaxies with accreting supermassive black holes. He is particularly interested in the co-evolving growth of black holes and galaxies: How do galaxies feed their black holes, and how do black holes influence star formation in their host galaxies.

Because active galaxies emit over a wide range of energies, he utilizes telescopes spanning the electromagnetic spectrum. He has experience observing x-rays (Chandra, XMM-Newton), ultraviolet (GALEX), optical (Hubble, Keck, Subaru, Magellan), infrared (Spitzer, Herschel), and radio (VLA) light. He has been awarded several programs on the James Webb Space Telescope to understand the formation and growth of the first black holes and galaxies.

Areas of Expertise

Physics and Astronomy
Black Holes
Supermassive Black Holes
Active Galaxies

Education

Penn State University

B.Sc.

Physics

2004

Penn State University

B.Sc.

Astronomy

2004

University of Arizona

Ph.D.

Astronomy

2010

Affiliations

  • American Astronomical Society : Member

Accomplishments

Steward Observatory Outstanding Research Award

2010

Hubble Fellowship

2013

National Science Foundation CAREER Award

2020

Media Appearances

How to safely watch the solar eclipse

NBC Connecticut  tv

2024-04-01

First and foremost: to watch this out-of-this-world display April 8, don’t even think about looking right at the sun.

“Most important thing, do not look directly at the solar eclipse with your eyes,” said UConn associate professor of physics Jonathan Trump. “Here in Connecticut the eclipse will be about 90% which is pretty spectacular, but even 10% of the sun’s light is a lot of the sun’s light.”

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Jon Trump, Astronomer in UConn Physics, Talks about the April 8 Eclipse

WILI - The Wayne Norman Show  radio

2024-04-01

Jon Trump, an astronomer in UConn Physics, talks with Wayne Norman about the 90% solar eclipse happening on April 8, 2024.

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There's a slight chance Connecticut will have a view of the northern lights tonight

Hearst Connecticut Media  print

2023-11-13

The aurora borealis was visible last night, glowing in the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine skies, with reports coming in from the Mount Washington Observatory. But might it be possible to see those northern lights tonight in Connecticut?

Jonathan Trump, professor of astronomy at the University of Connecticut, told CT Insider that there might still be a chance tonight, but it’s hard to say for sure.

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Articles

The Eighteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: Targeting and First Spectra from SDSS-V

The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

2023

The eighteenth data release (DR18) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is the first one for SDSS-V, the fifth generation of the survey. SDSS-V comprises three primary scientific programs or" Mappers": the Milky Way Mapper (MWM), the Black Hole Mapper (BHM), and the Local Volume Mapper. This data release contains extensive targeting information for the two multiobject spectroscopy programs (MWM and BHM), including input catalogs and selection functions for their numerous scientific objectives. We describe the production of the targeting databases and their calibration and scientifically focused components. DR18 also includes∼ 25,000 new SDSS spectra and supplemental information for X-ray sources identified by eROSITA in its eFEDS field. We present updates to some of the SDSS software pipelines and preview changes anticipated for DR19.

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Confirmation and refutation of very luminous galaxies in the early universe

Nature

2023

During the first 500 million years of cosmic history, the first stars and galaxies formed, seeding the Universe with heavy elements and eventually reionizing the intergalactic medium (1; 2; 3). Observations with JWST have uncovered a surprisingly high abundance of candidates for early star-forming galaxies, with distances (redshifts, ), estimated from multi-band photometry, as large as , far beyond pre-JWST limits (4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9). While generally robust, such photometric redshifts can suffer from degeneracies and occasionally catastrophic errors.

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A CEERS Discovery of an Accreting Supermassive Black Hole 570 Myr after the Big Bang: Identifying a Progenitor of Massive z> 6 Quasars

The Astrophysical Journal Letters

2023

We report the discovery of an accreting supermassive black hole at z= 8.679. This galaxy, denoted here as CEERS_1019, was previously discovered as a Lyα-break galaxy by Hubble with a Lyα redshift from Keck. As part of the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) survey, we have observed this source with JWST/NIRSpec, MIRI, NIRCam, and NIRCam/WFSS and uncovered a plethora of emission lines. The Hβ line is best fit by a narrow plus a broad component, where the latter is measured at 2.5σ with an FWHM∼ 1200 km s− 1. We conclude this originates in the broadline region of an active galactic nucleus (AGN).

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