Thomas Connor

Astronomer
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  • About Me
  • Education
  • Publications
  • Talks
  • Experience
  • Service and Outreach

About Me

I am an observational astronomer studying distant quasars and galaxy clusters

The evolution of the densest systems in the Universe, from the first billion years to now, requires integrating observations from the entire electromagnetic spectrum and from ground-based and space-based observatories. I bring a multi-wavelength perspective to the analysis of the earliest AGN, the growth of cluster galaxies, and the interfaces with the cosmic web.

A complete version of my CV, in PDF form, can be found here.

Alternatively, only the publications can be accessed here.

Education

  • 2016

    PhD

    Michigan State University
    Advisor: Megan Donahue

  • 2013

    MS

    Michigan State University

  • 2011

    BS

    Case Western Reserve University

Publications

First and Second Author
  • Enhanced X-ray Emission from the Most Radio-Powerful Quasar in the Universe's First Billion Years

    Connor T.; Bañados, E.; Stern, D.; Carilli, C; Fabian, A; Momjian, E; Rojas-Ruiz, S; Decarli, R; Farina, E. P.; Mazzucchelli, C; Earnshaw, H. P.
    2021 ApJ, 911, 120

  • X-ray Observations of a [C II]-bright, z=6.59 Quasar/Companion System

    Connor T.; Bañados, E.; Mazzucchelli, C.; Stern, D.; Decarli, R.; Fan, X.; Farina, E. P.; Lusso, E.; Neeleman, M.; Walter, F.
    2020 ApJ, 900, 189

  • X-ray Observations of a z~6.2 Quasar/Galaxy Merger

    Connor T.; Bañados, E.; Stern, D.; Decarli, R.; Schindler, J.-T.; Fan, X.; Farina, E. P.; Mazzucchelli, C.; Mulchaey, J.S.; Walter, F.
    2019 ApJ, 887, 171

  • COS Observations of the Cosmic Web: A Search for the Cooler Components of a Hot, X-ray Identified Filament

    Connor T.; Zahedy, F.; Chen, H-W; Cooper, T.J.; Mulchaey, J.S.; Vikhlinin, A.
    2019 ApJL, 884, 20

  • Assembling a RELIC at Redshift 1: Spectroscopic Observations of Galaxies in the RELICS Cluster SPT-CLJ0615-5746

    Connor T.; Kelson D.D.; Blanc G.A.; Boutsia K.
    2019 ApJ, 878, 66

  • On the Origin of the Scatter in the Red Sequence: An Analysis of Four CLASH Clusters

    Connor T.; Kelson D.D.; Donahue, M; Moustakas, J.
    2019 ApJ, 875, 16

  • Wide-Field Optical Spectroscopy of Abell 133: A Search for Filaments Reported in X-ray Observations

    Connor T.; Kelson D.D.; Mulchaey, J.; Vikhlinin, A; Patel, S; Balogh, M; Joshi, G; Kraft, R; Nagai, D; & Starikova, S
    2018 ApJ, 867, 25

  • Chandra X-Rays from the Redshift 7.54 Quasar ULAS J1342+0928

    Bañados, E.; Connor T.; Stern, D.; Mulchaey, J.; Fan, X.; Decarli, R.; Farina, E.P.; Mazzucchelli, C.; Venemans, B.P.; Walter, F.; Wang, F.; Yang, J.
    2018 ApJ, 856L, 25

  • Crowded Field Galaxy Photometry: Precision Colors in the CLASH Clusters

    Connor T.; Donahue, M; Kelson D.D.; Moustakas, J.; Coe, D.; Postman, M.; Bradley, L.D.; Koekemoer, A.M.; Melchior, P.; Umetsu, K.; Voit, G.M.
    2017 ApJ, 848, 37

  • Observations of Lyα and O VI: Signatures of Cooling and Star Formation in a Massive Central Cluster Galaxy

    Donahue, M; Connor T.; Voit, G.M.; Postman, M.
    2017 ApJ, 835, 216

  • Ultraviolet Morphology and Unobscured UV Star Formation Rates of CLASH Brightest Cluster Galaxies

    Donahue, M; Connor T.; Fogarty, K.; Li, Y.; Voit, G.M.; Postman, M.; Koekemoer, A.; Moustakas, J.; Bradley, L.; Ford, H.
    2015 ApJ, 805, 177

  • Scaling Relations and X-Ray Properties of Moderate-luminosity Galaxy Clusters from 0.3 < z < 0.6 with XMM-Newton

    Connor T.; Donahue, M; Sun, M.; Hoekstra, H.; Mahdavi, A.; Conselice, C.J.; McNamara, B.
    2014 ApJ, 794, 48

  • Other Publications
  • Chandra and Magellan/FIRE follow-up observations of PSO167-13: an X-ray weak QSO at z=6.515

    Vito, F. et al. (Connor, T: 5), 2021, A&A, accepted

  • The Discovery of a Highly Accreting, Radio-loud Quasar at z = 6.82

    Bañados, E. et al. (Connor, T: 7), 2021, ApJ, 909, 80

  • A Luminous Quasar at Redshift 7.642

    Wang, F. et al. (Connor, T: 9), 2021, ApJL, 907, 1

  • The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey. X. Initial Results from a Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect Study of Massive Galaxy Clusters at z > 1 Using MUSTANG2 on the GBT

    Dicker, S.R. et al. (Connor, T: 9), 2020, ApJ, 902, 144

  • Properties of the Hot Ambient Medium of Early-type Galaxies Hosting Powerful Radio Sources

    Frisbie, R.L.S. et al. (Connor, T: 4), 2020, ApJ, 899, 159

  • The Rise and Fall of ASASSN-18pg: Following a TDE from Early to Late Times

    Holoien, T. et al. (Connor, T: 18), 2020, ApJ, 898, 161

  • The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey. IX. High Radio Activity in a Merging Cluster

    Moravec, E. et al. (Connor, T: 7), 2020, ApJ, 898, 145

  • The BUFFALO HST Survey

    Steinhardt, C.L. et al. (Connor, T: 35), 2020, ApJS, 247, 64

  • Setting the scene for BUFFALO: A study of the matter distribution in the HFF galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1-2403 and its parallel field

    Gonzalez, E.J. et al. (Connor, T: 11), 2020, MNRAS, 494, 349

  • Stellar-mass Measurements in A133 with Magellan/IMACS

    Starikova, S. et al. (Connor, T: 5), 2020, ApJ, 892, 34

  • The Most Rapidly-Declining Type I Supernova 2019bkc/ATLAS19dqr

    Ping, C. et al. (Connor, T: 17), 2020, ApJL, 889L, 6

  • The Growth of Brightest Cluster Galaxies and Intracluster Light Over the Past Ten Billion Years

    DeMaio, T. et al. (Connor, T: 7), 2020, MNRAS, 491, 3751

  • The Physical Origins of the Identified and Still Missing Components of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium: Insights from Deep Surveys in the Field of Blazar 1ES1553+113

    Johnson, S. et al. (Connor, T: 5), 2019, ApJL, 884L, 31

  • Discovery and Early Evolution of ASASSN-19bt, the First TDE Detected by TESS

    Holoien, T.W. et al. (Connor, T: 19), ApJ, 883, 111

  • The Close AGN Reference Survey (CARS). A massive multi-phase outflow impacting the edge-on galaxy HE1353-1917

    Husemann, B. et al. (Connor, T: 11), 2019, A&A, 627, 53

  • Powerful AGN jets and unbalanced cooling in the hot atmosphere of IC 4296

    Grossova, R. et al. (Connor, T: 11), 2019, MNRAS, 488, 1917

  • Cooling in the X-ray halo of the rotating, massive early-type galaxy NGC 7049

    Juráñová, A. et al. (Connor, T: 11), 2019, MNRAS, 484, 2886

  • Thermodynamic properties, multiphase gas and AGN feedback in a large sample of giant ellipticals

    Lakhchaura, K. et al. (Connor, T: 7), 2018, MNRAS, 481, 4472

  • Lost but not forgotten: intracluster light in galaxy groups and clusters

    DeMaio, T. et al. (Connor, T: 5), 2018, MNRAS, 474, 3009

  • Globular and Open Clusters Observed by SDSS/SEGUE: The Giant Stars

    Morrison, H.L. et al. (Connor, T: 5), 2016, AJ, 151, 7

  • Star Formation Activity in CLASH Brightest Cluster Galaxies

    Fogarty, K et al. (Connor, T: 3), 2015, ApJ, 813, 117

  • The origin of cold gas in giant elliptical galaxies and its role in fuelling radio-mode AGN feedback

    Werner, N. et al. (Connor, T: 9), 2014, MNRAS, 439, 2291

Talks & Posters

On the Nature of Galaxy Clusters as Archaeological Records

February 2021   --   Carnegie Observatories Colloquium (Virtual)

Multiwavelength Insights into the Growth and Evolution of Galaxy Clusters

October 2020   --   CfA Galaxy Cluster Group (Virtual)

The Current Status of X-ray Observations of High-z Quasars

March 2020   --   Black Holes and Galaxies at the Edge of the Universe (Ringberg)

X-ray Observations of Quasars in the First Billion Years of the Universe: Searching for AGN Activity in Companions

January 2020   --   AAS Meeting

X-rays from the Cosmic Web: The Case of Abell 133

September 2019   --   X-Ray Astronomy 2019

Taking the Red Sequence Offline

July 2019   --   Tracing Cosmic Evolution with Clusters of Galaxies (Sexten 2019)

Observing the Cosmic Web at the cluster boundary: a multi-wavelength campaign to detect cosmic filaments

January 2019   --   AAS Meeting

Building a Galaxy Cluster

October 2018   --   University of Alabama at Huntsville Physics Seminar

Cosmic Filaments & AXIS

August 2018   --   AXIS 2018 Summer Workshop

Optical Observations of Cluster Filaments

June 2018   --   Alabama WHIM 2018

Tying Clusters Onto the Cosmic Web with X-rays

March 2018   --   SnowCluster 2018

Observations of Infall into Abell 133

December 2016   --   4th Magellan Science Symposium

Multi-Wavelength Observations of Galaxy Clusters: Population Evolution and Scaling Relations for Intermediate-Redshift Clusters

July 2016   --   Thesis Defense

Inclusive Astronomy, Inclusive Physics: Working Toward a Better Future in our Fields

February 2016   --   MSU PGO Lunch Talk

Crowded Field Photometry in the CLASH Clusters: Measuring the Red Sequence of Cluster Galaxies with Robust Photometry

January 2016   --   AAS Meeting

Seeing the Trees for the Forest: An Optimized Census of Galaxy Clusters

September 2015   --   MSU PGO Lunch Talk

Photometry of CLASH Cluster Galaxies (Poster)

March 2015   --   SnowCluster 2015

A Beginner’s Guide to Galaxy Clusters

October 2014   --   MSU PGO Lunch Talk

Optimal Photometric Measurements for Determining the Stellar Masses of BCGs and Galaxy Clusters

September 2013   --   CLASH Team Science Meeting

Optical Morphology of Faint Radio Sources in the GOODS-N Field (Poster)

January 2011   --   AAS Meeting

Observing Experience

I have been awarded time on, observed with, and/or done significant analysis on data
from the following telescopes and instruments

Hubble Space Telescope: ACS, WFC3, UVIS, COS

Chandra X-ray Observatory

XMM-Newton

Gemini: North: GMOS

Keck: I: MOSFIRE

Magellan: Baade: IMACS, GISMO, FIRE, FourStar, Mage

Magellan: Clay: LDSS3

Hale Telescope: Double Spectrograph, TripleSpec, WIRC

SOAR: Goodman High-Throughput Spectrograph, SOI, Spartan IR Camera

DuPont: Direct CCD, Wide-field CCD, Echelle

CWRU Burrell-Schmidt

Service and Outreach

At Carnegie, I served as a postdoc liaison 2017-2019; this required acting as liaison between the Observatories postdocs and the Director, President, and other interested parties. I was a member of the AAS President's Early Career Advisory Board for the duration of its existence. At Michigan State I, among other responsibilites, co-coordinated a revitilization of our grad student recruitment weekend.

My outreach activities include numerous departmental events -- notably, organizing and running the spectroscopy display at the yearly Carnegie Open House. I am also involved in the Mt. Wilson STEM Education Program. I have talked at and assisted at Astronomy on Tap, and volunteered at Campus Open House events at MSU.

© Thomas Connor. Design: TEMPLATED.
Images © Thomas Connor