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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American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Science (DPS) : Junior/Member, 2018 - Present

Near-discovery Observations of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS with the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility

On the Lunar Origin of Near-Earth Asteroid 2024 PT5

Telescope-to-Fireball Characterization of Earth Impactor 2022 WJ1

Ejecta Evolution Following a Planned Impact into an Asteroid: The First Five Weeks

Contemporaneous Multiwavelength and Precovery Observations of the Active Centaur P/2019 LD2 (ATLAS)

Carbon Chain Depletion of 2I/Borisov

Theodore "Teddy" Kareta, Ph.D., is an expert on the Solar System's "small bodies"—its comets, asteroids, and trans-Neptunian objects. His research spans from the origin of meteor showers to the behaviors of far-away comets to the study of potentially hazardous asteroids nearby. His work utilizes large ground- and space-based telescopes to measure the light emitted and reflected by these bodies to understand what they are made of and how they have changed since the time of their formation billions of years into the past.

Prior to joining Villanova, Dr. Kareta worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona where he played a key role in NASA's first planetary defense mission, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test or DART. He has also was a part of the science teams for the NASA OSIRIS-REx mission and the European Space Agency (ESA)'s mission Rosetta. Throughout both his telescopic and spacecraft-related work, Dr. Kareta has successfully involved many students meaningfully in his research.

Dr. Kareta's research has increasingly focused on the study of the Interstellar Objects, comets and asteroids which formed around other stars before being tossed out and subsequently found rapidly passing through our own Solar System. He lead some of the earliest publications detailing ground-based telescopic characterizations of both the second and third of the interstellar objects, 2I/Borisov and 3I/ATLAS, and has been funded by NASA to study near-Earth object analogues to the Interstellar Objects closer to home.

From 2021 to 2025, Dr. Kareta was also the press officer for the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences. He maintains both an interest in and a commitment to thorough and effective communication of science to the public through all possible channels.

Comets

Asteroids

Centaurs

Planetary Defense

Meteor Showers‎

Meteorites

Trans-Neptunian Objects

Personal Website

Google Scholar Citations

Astronomers discover previously unknown quasi-moon near Earth

Comet Lemmon will appear in the Philly-area skies the next several evenings

Astronomers spot an interstellar object zipping through our solar system

Earth’s Mini-Moon Was Probably a Piece of Its Real Moon

'It's like taking a picture of lightning': How astronomers raced to track the smallest asteroid ever seen

The moon will get a temporary sidekick. It's called a mini-moon but it's an asteroid

The real science behind the mysterious 'Devil Comet' that's larger than Mount Everest and erupting for reasons scientists don't fully understand

Shining a Light on the Dark Comets

Assistant Professor of Astrophysics & Planetary Science

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