Faculty Spotlight: Massimo Marengo
Massimo Marengo is a professor in the Department of Physics, part of Florida State University’s College of Arts and Sciences. Marengo specializes in stellar astrophysics, or the study of stars. Originally born and raised in Italy, Marengo earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Turin in 1993 and his doctorate in astrophysics from the International School for Advanced Studies in 2000. He relocated to the U.S. and eventually joined FSU’s faculty as a professor in 2022.
Tell us a little about your background and what brought you to FSU.
Toward the end of my graduate studies, I moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I completed part of my doctoral research using telescopes owned by the Smithsonian Institution in Arizona and NASA in Hawaii. My first postdoctoral job was at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics where I eventually helped build a camera for NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. After, I joined Iowa State University’s faculty. I came to FSU two years ago almost by chance, as the Department of Physics was interested in hiring my wife, Mayly Sanchez, a particle physicist. After visiting, we realized how great a place FSU would be for both of us and have been here ever since.
Can you break down your current areas of research for us?
I focus on stars that pulsate and periodically inflate and deflate with a regular pattern. This pattern is determined by the star’s physical properties, such as its mass and composition. Studying this allows us to use these stars as probes and learn more about the environment where they are born. We also use pulsating stars to measure the distance of galaxies from Earth to determine the geometry and expansion rate of the universe, as it is still expanding 14 billion years after the Big Bang.
What inspired you to choose your field of study?
Stellar astrophysics was founded more than 100 years ago by Henrietta Leavitt, a Harvard University astronomer who first realized the fantastic properties of Cepheids, a special type of pulsating star. She found many of them in the Magellanic Clouds, which are two irregular dwarf galaxies that orbit the Milky Way galaxy. This led Edwin Hubble to uncover the expansion of the universe, ultimately leading to the Big Bang’s discovery. It is inspiring that the study of stars, once objects of mythology, is still our principal tool to understand the cosmos based on the hard work of individuals like Leavitt and Hubble.
What makes you passionate about astrophysics?
To quote Carl Sagan — a planetary scientist best known for publicly popularizing astronomy — “we are explorers.” We want to cross the last frontier, and there is no frontier more expansive than the universe itself. Through astrophysics, we can quantitatively study the origin of the entire cosmos, something that was within the realm of philosophy until a few centuries ago. We can now put numbers to it and test ideas, moving these inquiries from the realm of the subjective to the objective. This is the power of science.
Tell us about your experience working with NASA.
Working with facilities operated by NASA has been an incredible opportunity, as NASA has pushed the boundary of science to completely uncharted territory. When instruments such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope first looked at the sky, it was a moment like when Galileo first pointed his telescope to the heavens, except a billion times better. The technical expertise to accomplish these feats is a testament to the professionalism and technical skills of NASA scientists and engineers.
What do you want the public to know about your research?
The best has yet to come! In two years, the Webb telescope has already revolutionized many fields of astrophysics, but it is just starting. Expect something mind-blowing in the years to come.
What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part is when I open a new image from a telescope to become the first person in humanity’s history to see a new corner of the universe. It is especially exciting when I can share it with my students and the public.
Do you have any exciting upcoming projects or goals that you are currently working towards?
I just started a massive project with the National Science Foundation to enable its new Vera Rubin Observatory to use Cepheids and RR Lyrae, another type of pulsating stars, to characterize millions of new stars and galaxies. Rubin is a new telescope the U.S. is building on a mountaintop in Chile. It has a primary mirror with a diameter of 8 meters, designed to work like a wide-angle lens, with a 3.2 gigapixels camera — 100 times more pixels than a typical smartphone camera. It will take an image of the entire visible sky every three nights, essentially recording a movie of the night sky.
What is your best memory so far from working at FSU?
Individuals at FSU are encouraged to be their true selves, and this freedom allows a cross-pollination of perspectives that is extremely fruitful. I recently started a collaboration with the Department of International Affairs, part of the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, as well as the Department of History. As a committee, we are mentoring Monserrat Zeron, an undergraduate student working on her Honors in the Major thesis on the diplomacy dimension of large international space projects. I have learned a lot from her work, demonstrating how it truly takes a global village to elevate science to its highest form.
If your students only learned one thing from you, what would you hope it to be?
An experienced scientist is not one that knows a lot; they are just the one that has already made the most mistakes. Failure allows us to learn from our mistakes and arrive at the right answer. I want my students to not be discouraged by temporary setbacks. Keep your eyes on the final prize, and eventually you will make it.