Dr Kunal P Mooley
Research Scientist
Caltech, Division of Physics, Math and Astronomy
Research Scientist
Caltech, Division of Physics, Math and Astronomy
The combination of multiple messengers is a powerful means of studying our Universe. I combine observations of photons, gravitational waves and neutrinos from black hole and neutron star systems, and jets, in order to study the mergers of compact objects, the birth and dynamics of relativistic flows, measure the rate of expansion of the Universe and get insights into the equation of state of neutron stars.
Jets are powerful outflows that transport energy and matter away from a compact astrophysical object at relativistic speeds. They are accelerators of cosmic rays and through kinetic feedback they regulate the build-up of gas and growth of galaxies. I study jets in accreting black hole, neutron star and white dwarf systems, both Galactic and extragalactic, to ultimately understand how astrophysical jets are produced.
Pulsars. Under construction.
Explaining the "choked-jet" or "cocoon-domainated emission" model for the binary neutron star merger GW170817.
Radio Transients: The Dawn of a New Era. University of Virginia colloquium (September 2020).
Caltech/JPL Association for Gravitational-Wave Research (CaJAGWR) seminar on "GW170817 and the EM counterparts of future GW events".
Invited talk on "The radio counterpart of GW170817" at the Gravast-2019, Gravity and Light, conference at KITP/UCSB.
The Jansky VLA mapping of Gravitational Wave bursts as Afterglows in Radio (JAGWAR) discovery of the radio counterpart of GW170817.
Interview (in Marathi) by Dr. Dhruv Paranjape for India-based science outreach organization, Sanshodhan.
Consciousness and its Physical Substrate
Christof Koch (11/2/2022).
Quantum Field Theory and the Limits of Knowledge
Sean Carroll (12/7/2022)
Studying Consciousness & Free Will: A Neurophilosophical Approach
Liad Mudrik (2/28/2023)
From Beast Machines to Dreamachines
Anil Seth (3/29/2023).
Does Consciousness Continue After We Die?
Jim Tucker (4/26/2023)
There Is A World Out There, But It Is Mental
Bernardo Kastrup (5/31/2023)
Kunal Mooley is a Research Scientist at Caltech. He studies cataclysmic events, such as supernovae (deaths of stars) and neutron star mergers (gravitational wave sources), in the cosmos using a wide suite of telescopes such as the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), Very Long Baseline Array, Chandra and Keck. Kunal is currently co-leading JAGWAR, a worldwide collaboration to study astrophysics and cosmology using gravitational wave sources. Recently, he has initiated research on the perception of space and time, mind, consciousness and the nature of reality. Kunal obtained his Ph.D. in Astrophysics in 2015 from Caltech, where he implemented a new radio observing mode on the VLA, thus revolutionizing widefield radio surveys and discovering new populations astrophysical transients. Kunal later moved to the University of Oxford as a Hintze Fellow to study relativistic jets in accreting black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs. In 2018, he took on the Jansky Postdoctoral Fellowship jointly between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and Caltech, where he developed precision astrometric techniques to study the motion of astrophysical jets, and co-founded the Institute for Mind, Intelligence and Consciousness Studies. Kunal spends most of his time studying our dynamic Universe as well as the nature of mind and consciousness. Outside of research, he finds great interest in all kinds of sports and performing arts.
M.Sc. Physics (2009, silver medal)
IIT Bombay, India
M.Sc. Ph.D. Astrophysics (2015)
Grote Reber Doctoral Fellow
Caltech, NRAO
Hintze Fellow, Oxford (2015-2017)
Jansky Fellow, NRAO/Caltech (2018-2020)
(Co-)Supervised 14 researchers
Taught 6 courses (undergrad, grad)
Mentored middle and high school students
80+ (refereed), 130+ (non-refereed)
12 first-author, 5 student-led
6,400+ citations, h-index 31
10+ invited conference talks
35+ invited seminars and university colloquia
JAGWAR collaboration (co-lead), VLA Sky Survey (Implementation WG, co-chair), MeerKAT/ThunderKAT (MMA, co-chair)
Outreach programs at Caltech and Oxford
Senior judge, California and PUSD Science Fairs
Phone: 626-395-4586
Office: Cahill 216
Mail: Caltech, 1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125
Email: kmooley.at.caltech.edu