Astronomy & Astrophysics

Derek L. Buzasi

Senior Instructional Professor and Co-Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago

I study stars as physical laboratories: their oscillations, activity, rotation, magnetic behavior, and the instruments and space missions that make precision stellar measurements possible.

Publications on ADS UChicago profile Email

About

Stars, signals, and students

I am an astronomer and professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. My work uses precise time-series measurements — especially photometry and polarimetry — to understand how stars behave and what that behavior reveals about their interiors, atmospheres, and environments.

Research

Research interests

stellar interiors

Asteroseismology

Oscillations let us use stars as resonant laboratories, turning tiny brightness changes into constraints on structure, age, rotation, and evolution.

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new observables

Polarimetric asteroseismology

Precision polarimetry adds geometry-sensitive information to photometry and spectroscopy, especially for non-radial oscillations in hot and massive stars.

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missions & methods

Space photometry

WIRE, Kepler, and TESS opened new ways to measure stellar variability from space, including challenging bright and saturated targets.

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rotation & magnetism

Stellar activity

Work here combines TESS asteroseismology, long-baseline activity records, and spectropolarimetry to test how stellar rotation, magnetic braking, and dynamos evolve.

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side quests

Other projects

A holding place for projects that sit between the main themes: binaries, exoplanet hosts, Roman/TESS ideas, instrumentation, books, and teaching tools.

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Teaching & mentoring

Undergraduate astronomy

At UChicago I serve as Co-Director of Undergraduate Studies in Astronomy and Astrophysics. To be expanded with current courses, advising information, undergraduate research opportunities, office hours, and links to class resources.

  • Undergraduate advising and program guidance
  • Stellar astrophysics and observational astronomy
  • Student projects using real astronomical data

Publications

Publications and scholarly profiles

The ADS link sorts my publications by date.

NASA/ADS Publication list ORCID 0000-0002-1988-143X Google Scholar Scholar profile

Contact

Get in touch

Email: dbuzasi@uchicago.edu

Office: ERC 579, University of Chicago

Department: Astronomy and Astrophysics