Department of Physics undergraduate student, Josie Rose, was invited to present at an international workshop in September.

The workshop, Intensity Interferometry 2024, was in Porquerolles, France and attracted experts in this field from around the world.

Josie is a senior physics and astronomy major and "was invited to present her results on stellar intensity interferometry (SII), with data taken with the VERITAS telescope array.  Josie has gone several times to Arizona to collect data, has analyzed the data here at OSU, and has produced a very interesting result, which has generated a lot of excitement in the field."

"Josie has shown, for the first time, that intensity interferometry can be used to measure not only the size, but the shape of a star.  She studied gamma Casseopeia, a “rapid rotator star” rotating at 99% of its breakup velocity.  It is an extreme star!  She was able to measure the size and the equatorial bulge and orientation of the angular momentum.  Measurement of the photosphere itself is impossible by any other means.  Several groups have been working on measuring shape with SII, but Josie has gotten there first.  There was a lot of excitement at the workshop producing other invitations for presentations." (Professor Mike Lisa, Josie's faculty advisor)

A publication on these results is under preparation in Astrophysical Journal, and Josie will be the official corresponding author.

This is a big deal for an undergraduate student to show this, and we want to congratulate Josie on her success!