Stephen Thorsett

Stephen Erik Thorsett (b. December 3, 1964 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American professor and astronomer. His research interests include radio pulsars and gamma ray bursts. He is best known for measurements of the masses of neutron stars and for the use of binary pulsars to test the theory of general relativity. In 2004, with collaborators Ingrid Stairs and Zaven Arzoumanian, he made the first measurement of gravitational spin-orbit coupling... more

Stephen Erik Thorsett (b. December 3, 1964 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American professor and astronomer. His research interests include radio pulsars and gamma ray bursts. He is best known for measurements of the masses of neutron stars and for the use of binary pulsars to test the theory of general relativity. In 2004, with collaborators Ingrid Stairs and Zaven Arzoumanian, he made the first measurement of gravitational spin-orbit coupling in a binary system . He helped discover the oldest known extrasolar planet and was the first to suggest that a nearby gamma ray burst might cause a mass extinction event. Thorsett is a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and dean of the Division of Physical and Biological Sciences since July 1, 2006 . Currently he is working with his Ph.D. student Bülent Kızıltan on high energy astrophysics, particularly on the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) and pulsars. He is also a collaborator... less