Bayside professor has eyes on galaxy
Queensborough physics whiz talks about importance of black hole discovery
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Q u e e n s b o r o u g h
Community College professor
Jillian Bellovary became
interested in black holes
in college.
“I just think they’re cool
and they’re weird. When I
went to college, I thought I
wanted to be an engineer but
it’s not good for me. I liked
this ‘science stuff’ but I just
didn’t like building things, so
why don’t I do science where I
don’t have to touch anything?”
Bellovary said. “I really
like using my imagination
to envision science that I’m
thinking about.”
So she went on to
pursue astrophysics, physics,
and philosophy at the
University of Wisconsin-
Madison and earned a Ph.D. in
astronomy from the University
of Washinton in 2010. She
is currently a theoretical
astrophysicist as well as QCC
physics professor.
“I do computer simulations
of black holes, so I don’t use
telescopes. Everything I
do is on my computer and I
actually use supercomputers
from NASA to do a lot of
the simulations that takes
them many months to finish
running,” said Bellovary. “I
study how black holes form
in the early universe and
how they evolve along with
the galaxy they live in and I
try and make predictions for
people with telescopes and
also for gravitational wave
observatories.”
Dr. Jillian Bellovary Photo: Leo Correa/Queensborough Community College
Some of the organizations
she makes predictions for
include Laser Interferometer
G r a v i t a t i o n a l -Wa v e
Observatories (LIGO) in
Louisiana, Washington
and Italy and a European
space agency called Laser
Interferometer Space
Antenna (LISA).
“That’s the one I’m making
all those predictions for
because that one, we kind of
have no idea what we’re gonna
see. So I’m like ‘hey, maybe
you’ll see all of this stuff’
and it’s not going to launch
for another 15 years or so. So
I have a lot of time to make
predictions and I’m hoping
that some of the predictions I
make are right,” she said.
When she saw the first
images of the black hole,
which was captured thanks
to the algorithm of American
computer scientist Katie
Bouman, Bellovary was
excited to find out that her
predictions for what it would
look like matched the image.
“It was so cool because it
means that we understand
enough about black holes and
about science to predict what
we’re gonna see,” Bellovary
said. “But also I think as
they keep getting more and
more images of it, they’re
gonna be able to get better
and better detail and we’ll
probably learn some really
unexpected things.”
Though she does not get
the opportunity to go in-depth
with her students about black
holes, Bellovary does touch
on in during her lessons
with astronomy students
taking Space, Astronomy and
Our Universe Laboratory.
“It was super exciting to
see how much work they put
into it, that it was a woman
that kind of made it her career
mission and to succeed at that,”
said one Bellovary’s students
Sara Beth Clayton. “But also
Professor Bellovary talked
about that being her specialty
and we had discussed it in
class before that information
hit the news last week.”
Part of the astronomy class
allows students to use QCC’s
state-of-the-art astronomy
observatory, which was
funded by Dr. Dinah L. Moché,
students and members of the
Queens community.
Students are able to observe
planets, stars and nebulas
using a 16-inch Cassegrain
telescope, the largest in a
Queens college.
“They explain how the
telescope works and what
they’re doing, where they’re
pointing it. When they
position it, everybody gets
to look as long as they like,”
said Clayton who got to
see a nebula, Mars and the
moon’s surface.
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at (718)
224-5863 ext. 214.
Dr. Bellovary with Sara Beth Clayton
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