Villanova University was founded in 1842 by the Order of Saint Augustine. To this day, Villanova’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition is the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. Villanova prepares students to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them.


The strength of the Villanova experience comes in part from the University’s welcoming community. All members are bonded together by a shared responsibility to uphold the ideals of Saint Augustine and let the principles of truth, unity and love guide their lives. The Villanova community helps students grow intellectually, professionally and spiritually, and challenges them to reach their full potential.


The University’s rigorous academic experience, rooted in the liberal arts, forms an environment in which students and professors are partners in learning. The Villanova community is dedicated to providing a personalized experience that fosters every student’s intellectual and spiritual well-being. As part of their education, students are encouraged to enrich their own lives by working for those in need. Through academic and service programs, students use their knowledge, skills and compassion to better the world around them.


There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University’s six colleges—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. These colleges are the setting for an experience that develops both the heart and the mind, and creates the atmosphere where students are called to ignite change.


Villanova University is located in a suburban community 12 miles west of Philadelphia, Pa.

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2022
The Veritas Award recognizes outstanding accomplishment in faculty scholarship within The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The Veritas Award

Goddard Exceptional Achievement for Science

Goddard Special Act Award (CLASS)

Goddard Special Act Award (PIPER)

NSF Antarctica Service Medal of the United States of America

A Measurement of the Largest-scale CMB E-mode Polarization with CLASS

SOFIA/HAWC+ Far-infrared Polarimetric Large-area CMZ Exploration Survey. III. Full Survey Data Set

On-sky Performance of the CLASS Q-band Telescope

A cryogenic thermal source for detector array characterization

HAWC+/SOFIA Multiwavelength Polarimetric Observations of OMC-1

HAWC+, the Far-Infrared Camera and Polarimeter for SOFIA

David Chuss develops instrumentation to study the polarization of long wavelength light from astrophysical phenomenon to learn about the universe. He has worked on projects exploring the cosmic microwave background, which is thermal radiation from the beginning of the universe. Most recently, he led a team that developed a new camera for NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy that measures the polarization of radiation from clouds, which unveils the magnetic fields that can affect the star formation process.  Prior to coming to Villanova, Chuss worked as an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Astrophysical Magnetic Fields

Cosmology

Astronomical Polarimetry

Galactic Center

Star Formation

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The Villanova One Sky Center for Astrophysics

Dazzling New Milky Way Map Shows How Magnetism Shapes Our Galaxy

The Magnetic Heart of the Milky Way

New Map Reveals Complicated Magnetics of Milky Way’s Inner Core

Scientists reveal never-before-seen map of the Milky Way's central engine

Searching for a tiny signal from the very beginning of the universe

The Magnetic Center of the Milky Way

rubin-observatory-releases-first-images-as-the-villanova-one-sky-center-for-astrophysics-begins-celestial-partnership

Professor and Chair of Department of Physics; Co-Director of The Villanova One Sky Center for Astrophysics

Assistant Professor, Physics

Associate Professor of Physics

If the first few frames are any indicator of a blockbuster movie, hold the 2035 Best Picture Oscar for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and its ambitious new 10-year project. 

On June 23, 2025, scientists at the state-of-the-art facility in the mountains of north-central Chile gave the public its first glimpses into the capabilities of its 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope, equipped with the world’s largest digital camera—a 3.2 megapixel, 6,600-pound behemoth that can photograph the whole southern sky every few nights. 

Its task is a decade-long lapse record-called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The first shots on that journey have left both the general public and astronomical community in awe, revealing in rich detail a mind-boggling number of galaxies, stars, asteroids and other celestial bodies.

“The amount of sky it covers, even in just one image, is unprecedented,” said David Chuss, PhD, chair of the Department of Physics, who viewed the first images with colleagues at an organized watch party.

“It’s such high-precision, beautiful detail,” added Kelly Hambleton Prša, PhD, associate professor of Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences. “It’s just mind-blowing.”
  What Makes Rubin and LSST So Unique?  Simply, this revolutionary instrument, embarking on an equally revolutionary initiative, will observe half the sky to a greater depth and clarity than any instrument ever has before. 

Consider this: "The Cosmic Treasure Chest” image released by Rubin contains 1,185 individual exposures, taken over seven nights. Each one of those individual exposures covers 10 square degrees of night sky, which is about the same as looking up at 45 full moons positioned around one another. It may seem like a small size, but click the image yourself, and zoom in and out. The amount of sky captured in that range—enough to show roughly 10 million galaxies—is astounding. Per the Observatory, “it is the only astronomical tool in existence that can assemble an image this wide and deep so quickly.”

“At the end of 10 years, Rubin will have observed 20 billion galaxies, and each night in that time frame it will generate 20 terabytes of data,” Dr. Hambleton Prša said. “And, because Rubin has so many different filters, we get to see the same objects in so many different ways.”

According to Dr. Hambleton Prša and Dr. Chuss, the power and precision of the Rubin LSST, combined with the shear area of the sky that will be observed, will allow for an incredibly in-depth study of myriad objects, processes and events in ways nobody has ever studied them before. 

“For example, in our galaxy, we expect to observe only two supernovae per century,” Dr. Hambleton Prša said. “But we're observing 20 billion galaxies. For someone studying this phenomenon, the number of supernovae that they’re going to observe will be off the charts. It is an exquisite survey.”

It will also provide insight into the universe’s oldest and most puzzling enigmas. 

“Rubin is able to look back into our universe at times when it was much smaller during its expansion and really address some of these incredible mysteries out there, like dark energy,” Dr. Chuss said. “We know the universe is expanding and that this expansion is accelerating. Rubin will trace the history of that acceleration and, from that, provide insight into the physics of the mysterious dark energy that appears to be driving it.”

To enhance the technological capabilities of its instrument, scientists were invited to contribute towards the selection of the observing strategy of the telescope. The Rubin team took into consideration continual input from the astrophysics community, separated into what they call “science collaborations.” To achieve this, the Rubin team generated proposed simulations for collecting observations, which the science collaborations then assessed for their specific science goals. 

“The Rubin team then iterated with the science collaborations, taking into account feedback, to ultimately obtain the best strategy for the largest number of science cases,” Dr. Hambleton Prša said.

Dr. Hambleton Prša is the primary contact for the Pulsating Star Subgroup, which is part of the Transients and Variable Stars Science Collaboration, the science collaboration that focuses on objects in the sky that change with time. She was the lead author among 70 co-authors on the roadmap for this science collaboration, underscoring the significant scale of community participation for each of these areas.

 Joined Under One Sky  Dr. Hambleton Prša, Dr. Chuss and other members of the Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences Department and Department of Physics at Villanova have a vested interest in Rubin and the LSST project.

In April, the two departments joined forces to launch The Villanova One Sky Center for Astrophysics, co-directed by the two faculty members. With goals to elevate the University's longstanding record of research eminence in astronomy and astrophysics and create opportunities for more students to access the disciplines, the Center partnered with the Rubin Observatory to help realize the mission. Both Villanova and Rubin share a similar vision on expanding access to this broad field of study.

Fortuitously, the launch of The Villanova One Sky Center coincided with the initial data released from Rubin. What will result, Dr. Chuss says, will be a “truly awesome impact on both our Center and institution.”

Dr. Hambleton Prša will advance her own research of pulsating stars, and Andrej Prša, PhD, professor of Astrophysics and Planetary Science and the primary contact for the Binary Star Subgroup, will broaden his study of short-period binary stars. Joey Neilsen, PhD, associate professor of Physics, will expand his research in black hole astrophysics. Becka Phillipson, PhD, an assistant professor of Physics, who recently led a proposal for Villanova to join the Rubin LSST Discovery Alliance, aims to increase the scope of her study of chaotic variability of compact objects. Dr. Chuss, who generally works on infrared and microwave polarimetry, which is “outside the wavelength ranges of Rubin” is interested in its complementarity with other observations, such as those of the cosmic microwave background—the oldest light in the universe—and the evolution of the large-scale structure of the universe. Subjects, he says, which are “exactly in the wheelhouse for Rubin.”

Other faculty members are interested in topics such as how Rubin’s observations may change the knowledge of both the history and structure of our solar system and the population of Milky Way satellite galaxies. That is not to mention, Dr. Hambleton Prša points out, the daily 20 terabytes of data that will become available for students and postdoctoral researchers under their tutelage, who will be heavily involved in its analysis for their own projects and ideas.

“This partnership is going to greatly increase our opportunities and elevate our profile,” Dr. Chuss said. “It will make our program even more attractive for faculty, postdocs and students to come and to share their knowledge and expertise.

“Together, we will all have access to an incredible movie of this epoch of our universe, and the knowledge and surprises that come with it along the way.”




Rubin Observatory Releases First Images, as The Villanova One Sky Center for Astrophysics Begins Celestial Partnership

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