Looking toward the stars

WVU student with local ties searching for pulsars

By MICHAEL D. McELWAIN (mmcelwain@reviewonline.com)
CHESTER — A West Virginia University student with local ties has been recognized for his work in looking toward the skies.

While a senior at University High School in Morgantown, Dominic Ludovici nabbed a $30,000 scholarship in the regional round of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.

Ludovici was given the recognition after joining a team of radio astronomers from WVU and searching the sky at thousands of potential pulsars before the team found three that were previously undocumented.

Now a freshman undergraduate student at WVU, Ludovici is studying physics and working with the Pulsar Group. “I have actually been working with the Pulsar Group since June 2006,” he said.

Ludovici is the son of former Chester residents Thomas and Elizabeth (Williams) Ludovici. The family moved to Morgantown before Dominic was born. His grandmother, Gert Ludovici lives in Chester as does Elizabeth’s parents.

Because of his past association with the WVU physics family, Ludovici opted to take his scholarship to WVU. At college, Ludovici takes his regular courses but has also made trips to Charleston and Washington, D.C. to inform and educate government officials on the WVU Pulsar group’s work.

Another trip was a little farther from home. For a week and a-half in March, Ludovici spent time in India, analyzing the sky for pulsars.

“It was a wonderful opportunity. I got to observe on the telescope for four days,” Ludovici said. “It was just one of those experiences that most people don’t get and I never thought I would.”

Ludovici admits it’s a little tough to explain his interest in the field of physics and, specifically, with pulsars.

Basically, a pulsar is the remains of a star after going supernova. Massive and dense, the supernova event produces a very strong gravitational field with a high rate of spin and a strong magnetic field.

Most are seen as radio pulsars, rotating quickly and sweeping lighthouse beams of radiation across space, according to Ludovici. When the beam sweeps into position at just the right time, it can be detected and measured.

“As they rotate, they expel radiation along the magnetic pulse,” Ludovici said, adding he is interested in the field because a pulsar is “an extreme example of physics where we can measure the properties of general relativity.”

The spin of the pulsar is very reliable and can keep a more precise measure of time — even more accurate than our own Atomic Clock.

Ludovici plans to finish his time at WVU with a major in physics. After that, it’s on to graduate school and a doctorate in astronomy and astrophysics.

“It’s what I enjoy,” Ludovici said from his home in Morgantown, but he wont be there for long. He’s headed to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Greenbank, W.Va. for another look into space and for the opportunity to test not only Einstein’s Theory of Relativity but also his own curiosity of how the universe operates.