Or Graur

Biography

I am a Professor of Astrophysics at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth, as well as a Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History and an Honorary Associate Professor at University College London.

In 2013, I received my PhD in Physics and Astronomy from Tel-Aviv University. I then held two postdoctoral research positions at The Johns Hopkins University (2013-2014) and New York University (2014-2016), before moving to the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian as an independent National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow (2016-2020).

Research interests

I study supernovae - the explosions of stars - as well as other transient astrophysical phenomena. I use observations (images and spectra) obtained with ground- and space-based observatories and large-scale spectroscopic surveys (such as SDSS and DESI). I am specifically interested in uncovering the nature of the progenitors of Type Ia supernovae, studying these supernovae when they are several years old, and conducting population studies of supernovae in general. I am also working on discovering and characterizing tidal disruption events - flares caused by stars that are ripped apart by super-massive black holes - and the galaxies in which they occur. I am also interested in the multicultural mythology of the Milky Way.

Research outputs

2025

TiDES: The 4MOST Time Domain Extragalactic Survey

Frohmaier, C., Vincenzi, M., Sullivan, M., Hönig, S. F., Smith, M., Addison, H., Collett, T., Dimitriadis, G., Ellis, R. S., Gandhi, P., Graur, O., Hook, I., Kelsey, L., Kim, Y. L., Lidman, C., Maguire, K., Makrygianni, L., Martin, B., Möller, A., Nichol, R. C., Nicholl, M., Schady, P., Simmons, B. D., Smartt, S. J., Tempel, E., Wiseman, P.

10 Oct 2025, In: The Astronomical Journal. 992, 1, 18p., 158

Research output: Article

The La Silla Schmidt Southern Survey

Miller, A. A., Abrams, N. S., Aldering, G., Anand, S., Angus, C. R., Arcavi, I., Baltay, C., Bauer, F. E., Brethauer, D., Bloom, J. S., Bommireddy, H., Catelan, M., Chornock, R., Clark, P., Collett, T. E., Dimitriadis, G., Faris, S., Forster, F., Franckowiak, A., Galbany, L., Galleguillos, R. B., Goobar, A., Graur, O., Gutierrez, C. P., Hall, S., Hammerstein, E., Herner, K. R., Hook, I. M., Huston, M. J., Johansson, J., Kilpatrick, C. D., Kim, A. G., Knop, R. A., Kowalski, M. P., Kwok, L. A., LeBaron, N., Lin, K. W., Liu, C., Lu, J. R., Lu, W., Lunnan, R., Maguire, K., Makrygianni, L., Margutti, R., Maoz, D., Veres, P. M., Moore, T., Nayana, A. J., Nicholl, M., Nordin, J., Pignata, G., Polin, A., Poznanski, D., Prieto, J. L., Rabinowitz, D. L., Rehemtulla, N., Rigault, M., Ryczanowski, D., Sarin, N., Schulze, S., Shah, V. G., Sheng, X., Shilling, S. P. R., Simmons, B. D., Singh, A., Smith, G. P., Smith, M., Sollerman, J., Soumagnac, M. T., Stubbs, C. W., Sullivan, M., Suresh, A., Trakhtenbrot, B., Ward, C., Wiston, E., Xiong, H., Yao, Y., Nugent, P. E.

29 Sep 2025, In: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 137, 9, 30p., 094204

Research output: Article

Effect of Positronium on the γ-Ray Spectra and Energy Deposition in Type Ia Supernovae

Dutta, A., Fullard, A., Kerzendorf, W., O'Brien, J. T., Powers, C., Sim, S. A., Flörs, A., Graur, O.

3 Sep 2025, In: The Astrophysical Journal. 990, 2, 12p., 129

Research output: Article

JWST and ground-based observations of the type Iax Supernovae SN 2024pxl and SN 2024vjm: evidence for weak deflagration explosions

Kwok, L. A., Singh, M., Jha, S. W., Blondin, S., Dastidar, R., Larison, C., Miller, A. A., Andrews, J. E., Andrews, M., Anupama, G. C., Auchettl, K., Bánhidi, D., Barna, B., Bostroem, K. A., Brink, T. G., Cartier, R., Chen, P., Christy, C. T., Coulter, D. A., Covarrubias, S., Davis, K. W., Dickinson, C. B., Dong, Y., Farah, J. R., Filippenko, A. V., Flörs, A., Foley, R. J., Franz, N., Fremling, C., Galbany, L., Gangopadhyay, A., Garg, A., Garnavich, P., Gates, E. L., Graur, O., Gordon, A. C., Hiramatsu, D., Hoang, E., Howell, D. A., Hsu, B., Johansson, J., Joshi, A., Kahinga, L. A., Kaur, R., Kumar, S., Kumnurdmanee, P., Kuncarayakti, H., LeBaron, N., Liu, C., Maeda, K., Maguire, K., McCully, C., Mehta, D., Menotti, L. M., Metevier, A. J., Misra, K., Murphey, C. T., Newsome, M., Gonzalez, E. P., Patra, K. C., Pearson, J., Piro, A. L., Polin, A., Ravi, A. P., Rest, A., Rehemtulla, N., Retamal, N. M., Robinson, O. M., Rojas-Bravo, C., Sahu, D. K., Sand, D. J., Schmidt, B. P., Schulze, S., Schwab, M., Shrestha, M., Siebert, M. R., Simha, S., Sollerman, J., Subrayan, B. M., Szalai, T., Taggart, K., Teja, R. S., Temim, T., Terwel, J. H., Tinyanont, S., Valenti, S., Vilchez, J. A., Vinkó, J., Westerling, A. L., Yang, Y., Zheng, W.

13 Aug 2025, In: The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 989, 2, 24p., L33

Research output: Article

AT 2018dyk: tidal disruption event or active galactic nucleus? Follow-up observations of an extreme coronal line emitter with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

Clark, P., Callow, J., Graur, O., Greenwell, C., Hu, L., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Claybaugh, T., Dawson, K., Macorra, A. d. l., Doel, P., Gontcho, S. G. A., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Juneau, S., Kehoe, R., Kisner, T., Kremin, A., Landriau, M., Guillou, L. L., Meisner, A., Miquel, R., Moustakas, J., Pérez-Ràfols, I., Sanchez, E., Schubnell, M., Sprayberry, D., Tarlé, G., Weaver, B. A., Zou, H.

24 May 2025, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 540, 1, p. 871-906

Research output: Article

The rate of extreme coronal line emitters in the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey LOWZ sample

Callow, J., Graur, O., Clark, P., Kim, A. G., O'Connor, B., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Macorra, A. d. l., Dey, A., Doel, P., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho, S. G. A., Gutierrez, G., Kehoe, R., Lambert, A., Landriau, M., Guillou, L. L., Meisner, A., Miquel, R., Moustakas, J., Prada, F., Pérez-Ràfols, I., Rossi, G., Sanchez, E., Schubnell, M., Seo, H., Sprayberry, D., Tarlé, G., Weaver, B. A., Zou, H.

1 May 2025, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 539, 1, p. 231-245

Research output: Article

The ancient Egyptian cosmological vignette: first visual evidence of the Milky Way and trends in coffin depictions of the sky goddess Nut

Graur, O.

28 Apr 2025, In: Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. 28, 1, p. 97-124

Research output: Article

2024

The MOST Hosts Survey: spectroscopic observation of the host galaxies of ~40,000 transients using DESI

Soumagnac, M. T., Nugent, P., Knop, R. A., Ho, A. Y. Q., Hohensee, W., Awbrey, A., Andersen, A., Aldering, G., Ventura, M., Aguilar, J. N., Ahlen, S., Benzvi, S. Y., Brooks, D., Brout, D., Claybaugh, T., Davis, T. M., Dawson, K., Macorra, A. d. l., Dey, A., Dey, B., Doel, P., Douglass, K. A., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztanaga, E., Gontcho, S. G. A., Graur, O., Guy, J., Hahn, C., Honscheid, K., Howlett, C., Kim, A. G., Kisner, T., Kremin, A., Lambert, A., Landriau, M., Lang, D., Guillou, L. L., Manera, M., Meisner, A., Miquel, R., Moustakas, J., Myers, A. D., Nie, J., Palmese, A., Parkinson, D., Poppett, C., Prada, F., Qin, F., Rezaie, M., Rossi, G., Sanchez, E., Schlegel, D. D., Schubnell, M., Silber, J. H., Tarle, G., Weaver, B. A., Zhou, Z.

1 Dec 2024, In: The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 275, 2, 14p., 22

Research output: Article

The rate of extreme coronal line emitting galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and their relation to tidal disruption events

Callow, J., Graur, O., Clark, P., Palmese, A., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., BenZvi, S., Brooks, D., Claybaugh, T., Macorra, A. d. l., Doel, P., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho, S. G. A., Lambert, A., Landriau, M., Meisner, A., Miquel, R., Moustakas, J., Nie, J., Poppett, C., Prada, F., Rezaie, M., Rossi, G., Sanchez, E., Silber, J. H., Tarlé, G., Weaver, B. A., Zhou, Z.

5 Nov 2024, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 535, 1, p. 1095-1122

Research output: Article

Apophis: a new European space mission could get up close with a large asteroid that’s set to brush by Earth

Graur, O.

1 Nov 2024, In: The Conversation

Research output: Article

View all my research outputs

Professor Or Graur

Biography

Research interests

Research outputs

2025

2024