Grants per year
Personal profile
Research Interests
Wen-fai Fong utilizes observations across the electromagnetic spectrum to study explosive transients and their host galaxy environments. These transients include gamma-ray bursts, electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave sources, compact object binaries, supernovae, and anything that collides or explodes.
The main questions she seeks to answer in her research are: What are the energy sources powering these transients? What is the nature and composition of material ejected from these sources? What types of environments do they explode into? What do their host galaxies look like, and what can they tell us about their progenitors?
To aid these efforts, Wen-fai uses a large variety of telescopes spanning radio, optical, near-infrared, and X-ray wavelengths on the ground and in space. On the ground, these facilities include the Very Large Array, Magellan, Gemini, MMT and Keck located in New Mexico, Chile, Hawaii and Arizona. In space, she uses NASA's Swift satellite, the Hubble Space Telescope, and eventually the James Webb Space Telescope when it launches in late 2018. She also uses information from the Advanced Laser Interferometry Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) to rapidly follow gravitational wave sources and their host galaxies with many of these facilities.
Over the past several years, she has led multi-wavelength observational campaigns, garnering national recognition for her studies of short gamma-ray bursts.
Education/Academic qualification
Astronomy and Astrophysics, PhD, Harvard University
… → 2014
Astronomy and Astrophysics, AM, Harvard University
… → 2010
Biology, Physics, SB, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
… → 2008
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- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI Institute)
Kalogera, V. (PD/PI), Katsaggelos, A. K. (Co-PD/PI), Alexander, E. (Other), Faucher-Giguere, C.-A. (Other), Fong, W.-F. (Other), Hullman, J. R. (Other), Kokkori, M. (Other), Liu, H. (Other), Miller, A. A. (Other), Rasio, F. A. (Other), Samia, N. I. (Other), Starkenburg, T. (Other), Strom, A. (Other), Tchekhovskoy, S. (Other), Vijayaraghavan, A. (Other), Wei, E. (Other) & Zissimopoulos, K. (Other)
10/1/24 → 9/30/29
Project: Research project
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AI for the Sky - The SkAI Institute
Kalogera, V. (PD/PI), Katsaggelos, A. K. (Co-Investigator), Alexander, E. (Other), Faucher-Giguere, C.-A. (Other), Fong, W.-F. (Other), Hullman, J. R. (Other), Kokkori, M. (Other), Liu, H. (Other), Miller, A. A. (Other), Rasio, F. A. (Other), Samia, N. I. (Other), Starkenburg, T. (Other), Strom, A. (Other), Tchekhovskoy, S. (Other), Vijayaraghavan, A. (Other) & Wei, E. (Other)
10/1/24 → 9/30/29
Project: Research project
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Collaborative Research: The Multimessenger Treasure TROVE, a Tool for Rapid Object Vetting and Examination
Kilpatrick, C. D. (PD/PI) & Fong, W.-F. (Co-PD/PI)
9/1/24 → 8/31/27
Project: Research project
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The Late-Time X-ray Behavior of Short Gamma-ray Bursts: Implications for Energetics and Rates
Fong, W.-F. (PD/PI) & Fong, W.-F. (PD/PI)
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
11/21/23 → 11/20/25
Project: Research project
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Collaborative Research: WoU‐MMA: Searches After Gravitational‐waves Using Arizona's Observatories (SAGUARO)
Fong, W.-F. (PD/PI)
9/1/23 → 8/31/26
Project: Research project
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A Fast Radio Burst in a Compact Galaxy Group at z ∼ 1
Gordon, A. C., Fong, W. F., Simha, S., Dong, Y., Kilpatrick, C. D., Deller, A. T., Ryder, S. D., Eftekhari, T., Glowacki, M., Marnoch, L., Muller, A. R., Nugent, A. E., Palmese, A., Prochaska, J. X., Rafelski, M., Shannon, R. M. & Tejos, N., Mar 1 2024, In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. 963, 2, L34.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access6 Scopus citations -
A Hubble Space Telescope Search for r-Process Nucleosynthesis in Gamma-Ray Burst Supernovae
Rastinejad, J. C., Fong, W., Levan, A. J., Tanvir, N. R., Kilpatrick, C. D., Fruchter, A. S., Anand, S., Bhirombhakdi, K., Covino, S., Fynbo, J. P. U., Halevi, G., Hartmann, D. H., Heintz, K. E., Izzo, L., Jakobsson, P., Kangas, T., Lamb, G. P., Malesani, D. B., Melandri, A. & Metzger, B. D. & 7 others, , Jun 1 2024, In: Astrophysical Journal. 968, 1, 14.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access3 Scopus citations -
A Population of Short-duration Gamma-Ray Bursts with Dwarf Host Galaxies
Nugent, A. E., Fong, W. F., Castrejon, C., Leja, J., Zevin, M. & Ji, A. P., Feb 1 2024, In: Astrophysical Journal. 962, 1, 5.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access6 Scopus citations -
A Radio Flare in the Long-lived Afterglow of the Distant Short GRB 210726A: Energy Injection or a Reverse Shock from Shell Collisions?
Schroeder, G., Rhodes, L., Laskar, T., Nugent, A., Escorial, A. R., Rastinejad, J. C., Fong, W. F., van der Horst, A. J., Veres, P., Alexander, K. D., Andersson, A., Berger, E., Blanchard, P. K., Chastain, S., Christensen, L., Fender, R., Green, D. A., Groot, P., Heywood, I. & Horesh, A. & 15 others, , Aug 1 2024, In: Astrophysical Journal. 970, 2, 139.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access2 Scopus citations -
A Radio Study of Persistent Radio Sources in Nearby Dwarf Galaxies: Implications for Fast Radio Bursts
Dong, Y., Eftekhari, T., Fong, W., Bhandari, S., Berger, E., Ould-Boukattine, O. S., Hessels, J. W. T., Sridhar, N., Reines, A., Margalit, B., Darling, J., Gordon, A. C., Greene, J. E., Kilpatrick, C. D., Marcote, B., Metzger, B. D., Nimmo, K., Nugent, A. E., Paragi, Z. & Williams, P. K. G., Oct 1 2024, In: Astrophysical Journal. 973, 2, 133.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Scopus citations
Datasets
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A VLA study of high-redshift GRBs. II. GRB140304A
Laskar, T. (Creator), Berger, E. (Creator), Margutti, R. (Creator), Zauderer, B. A. (Creator), Williams, P. K. G. (Contributor), Fong, W.-F. (Creator), Sari, R. (Creator), Alexander, K. D. (Creator) & Kamble, A. (Creator), Centre de Donnees Strasbourg (CDS), 2019
DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier.18590134, https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/859/134
Dataset
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Opt. follow-up of GW events with LCO
Arcavi, I. (Creator), McCully, C. (Creator), Hosseinzadeh, G. (Creator), Howell, D. A. (Creator), Vasylyev, S. (Creator), Poznanski, D. (Creator), Zaltzman, M. (Creator), Maoz, D. (Creator), Singer, L. (Creator), Valenti, S. (Creator), Kasen, D. (Creator), Barnes, J. (Creator), Piran, T. (Creator) & Fong, W.-F. (Creator), Centre de Donnees Strasbourg (CDS), 2018
DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier.18489033, https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/848/L33
Dataset
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Radio to UV observations of GRB 181201A
Laskar, T. (Creator), Eerten, H. V. (Contributor), Schady, P. (Creator), Mundell, C. G. (Creator), Alexander, K. D. (Creator), Duran, R. B. (Contributor), Berger, E. (Creator), Bolmer, J. (Creator), Chornock, R. (Creator), Coppejans, D. L. (Creator), Fong, W.-F. (Creator), Gomboc, A. (Creator), Jordana-Mitjans, N. (Creator), Kobayashi, S. (Creator), Margutti, R. (Creator), Menten, K. M. (Creator), Sari, R. (Creator), Yamazaki, R. (Creator), Lipunov, V. M. (Creator), Gorbovskoy, E. (Creator), Kornilov, V. G. (Creator), Tyurina, N. (Creator), Zimnukhov, D. (Creator), Podesta, R. (Creator), Levato, H. (Creator), Buckley, D. A. H. (Contributor), Tlatov, A. (Creator), Rebolo, R. (Creator) & Serra-Ricart, M. (Creator), Centre de Donnees Strasbourg (CDS), 2021
DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier.18840121, https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/884/121
Dataset
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17 PS1 superluminous SNe LCs + classif. spectra
Lunnan, R. (Creator), Chornock, R. (Creator), Berger, E. (Creator), Jones, D. O. (Creator), Rest, A. (Creator), Czekala, I. (Creator), Dittmann, J. (Creator), Drout, M. R. (Creator), Foley, R. J. (Creator), Fong, W. (Creator), Kirshner, R. P. (Creator), Laskar, T. (Creator), Leibler, C. N. (Creator), Margutti, R. (Creator), Milisavljevic, D. (Creator), Narayan, G. (Creator), Pan, Y.-C. (Creator), Riess, A. G. (Creator), Roth, K. C. (Creator), Sanders, N. E. (Creator), Scolnic, D. (Creator), Smartt, S. J. (Creator), Smith, K. W. (Creator), Chambers, K. C. (Creator), Draper, P. W. (Creator), Flewelling, H. (Creator), Huber, M. E. (Creator), Kaiser, N. (Creator), Kudritzki, R. P. (Creator), Magnier, E. A. (Creator), Metcalfe, N. (Creator), Wainscoat, R. J. (Creator), Waters, C. (Creator) & Willman, M. (Creator), Centre de Donnees Strasbourg (CDS), 2018
DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier.18520081, https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/852/81
Dataset
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Opt. follow-up of galaxies within S190814bv region
Gomez, S. (Creator), Hosseinzadeh, G. (Creator), Cowperthwaite, P. S. (Creator), Villar, V. A. (Creator), Berger, E. (Creator), Gardner, T. (Creator), Alexander, K. D. (Creator), Blanchard, P. K. (Creator), Chornock, R. (Creator), Drout, M. R. (Creator), Eftekhari, T. (Creator), Fong, W. (Creator), Gill, K. (Creator), Margutti, R. (Creator), Nicholl, M. (Creator), Paterson, K. (Creator) & Williams, P. K. G. (Contributor), Centre de Donnees Strasbourg (CDS), 2021
DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier.18849055, https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/884/L55
Dataset