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Roger Wesson

Dr Roger Wesson

Research Associate

School of Physics and Astronomy

Email
WessonR1@cardiff.ac.uk
Campuses
Queen's Buildings - North Building, Room N3/25, 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA

Overview

My main research interest is core-collapse supernovae, and the dust that forms in the remnants left behind after these colossal stellar explosions. I'm investigating how much dust forms, when it forms, and what ultimately happens to it.

I'm also interested in planetary nebulae, which form when relatively low-mass stars exhaust their nuclear fuel. Unusual chemical signatures in some of these objects indicate that they contain some very cold gas of unclear origin. I am trying to determine the nature of this cold gas, which can often significantly affect standard methods of estimating the abundances of chemical elements in these objects.

Publication

2024

2023

2022

Articles

Biography

I got my PhD from University College London, before briefly pursuing a career outside academia in the civil service. After two years at the Home Office, I returned to astronomy with a postdoc back at UCL, before moving to Chile as a European Southern Observatory fellow with observatory duties at Paranal. I returned to the UK in 2016 with another postdoc position at UCL, before moving to Cardiff in 2022.