Profile of Dr. Carolyn Kierans: NASA Astrophysicist Studying Antimatter at the Galactic Center
By
Niloofar Sharei
The kind of bagel that ruins lesser bagels for you.
Summary
This article is an interview/profile of Dr. Carolyn Kierans, a NASA astrophysicist and winner of the 2025 HEAD Early Career Prize, who is one of the plenary speakers at the 248th AAS (American Astronomical Society) meeting. The piece discusses her research on antimatter in our galaxy, particularly her work with the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) telescope, which detects positrons (antimatter particles) emanating from the center of the Milky Way. Kierans explains how antimatter is naturally occurring (even in bananas), her path from wanting to be a veterinarian to becoming an astrophysicist, and her work on NASA balloon missions and satellite instruments.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledAntimatter sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it is being made all around us, even inside a banana.
Bananas contain a little potassium, and some of that potassium is radioactive; when it decays, it throws off positrons, the antimatter version of electrons.
I wanted to be a veterinarian for a long time, but I realized I didn't like blood, so that was out.
It's really cool to be able to see the universe in a completely different light.
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