We all share one planet.
I study cosmic Black Holes
You can contact me at:
mgiustini (at) cab.inta-csic.es
margherita.giustini (at) gmail.com
I am an astronomer using space-based X-ray and UV observations to investigate the inner regions around supermassive black holes. I have the privilege to use data from large telescopes such as XMM-Newton and the Hubble Space Telescope, pinpointing distant sources in the Universe that show interesting characteristics, and studying their physics using the knowledge that we have collectively gained here on Earth.
I work in the Galaxy Formation and Evolution Group of the Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), where I am supported by the “Atracción de Talento” Fellowship of the Comunidad de Madrid grant 2018-T1/TIC-11733: “Unveiling Black Hole Winds from Space”.
Before starting my postdoctoral position at the CAB, education and research have brought me all around the globe. I was born in Italy, where I got a Ph.D. in Astronomy at the University of Bologna; I have then lived and investigated black holes in several countries: the Netherlands, where I worked at the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON); the USA, where I spent almost a half of my Ph.D. studies, first at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) and then at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), and where I returned as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC); and Spain, where I have been Research Fellow at the European Space Agency (ESA). The countries I have visited to go giving and listening to scientific talks include Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, and Japan.
It is immensely humbling and gratifying to live a life with such privileges, and to be a living bridge between the vast knowledge that is in the Universe and our little planet.
I am the product of a generation of humans who were able to widen so much their horizons on the Universe in such a short time: it seems surreal to live in an epoch which feels at the verge of a global collapse — but it is real. We – humans, in general – seem to have severely lost our way here on Earth, and a global perception of our position in the Cosmos is definitely missing. Perhaps by sharing a bit of the knowledge that I have gained in this short terrestrial life, someone might feel inspired in widening their horizons as well, and to get to see all the other humans for what they truly are: fellows who share with each other a very short life on a unique, and uniquely beautiful, planet: planet Earth.
We all share the same planet.
Madrid, January 2020
Research
Black Hole Winds
I investigate the inner regions around supermassive black holes at the center of distant galaxies, and in particular the impact of black hole winds in shaping galaxy evolution.
X-ray missions
I am an X-ray astronomer using the most advanced facilities to observe the regions closest to cosmic black holes. I also contribute to the development of future X-ray missions.
I take pictures of our planet.
and things that happen on it
I take pictures of our planet
peculiarly beautiful terrestrial things
that would catch the attention of an extraterrestrial eye.
(…it is like a nostalgic way of preserving future memories of when the planet was as it is now, I think. I am driven by the future. Saudade de você, meu querido planeta Terra.)
Latest post in the Blog:
Some links
PhD thesis
YouTube
