Adam W. Rengstorf, Ph.D.

Interim Chair, Department of Chemistry and Physics

Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Director of the Northwest Indiana Robotic (NIRo) Observatory

Introduction

Adam Rengstorf teaches all levels of physics lecture and lab courses, general-education astronomy courses, and upper-level astrophysics courses. He also oversees all observing campaigns and undergraduate research projects at PNW’s NIRo observatory.

Research Overview

Adam Rengstorf is an observational astronomer and director of the NIRo observatory. Ever since his Ph.D. thesis on variable quasars, he has been interested in things that change in brightness or position, or both, in the night sky.

Recent observing campaigns at NIRo have included monitoring near-Earth asteroids, determining the rotation rate of main-belt asteroids, and monitoring eclipsing binary star systems, especially those with changing orbital periods.

The best part of my job is showing undergraduates how to do observational astronomy. Teaching them how to use the telescope, analyze the results, and prepare them for presentation or publication – It’s all a great way to introduce them to scientific research. & I love that it can be described as simply as ‘Hey! Let’s go take some pictures of a rock in outer space!’

Select Publications

Nalbone, David P.; Ashoori, Minoo; Fasanya, Bankole K.; Pelter, Michael W.; and Rengstorf, Adam (2023) “Salient Factors in Predicting Student Success, Including Course Modality,” International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Vol. 17: No. 1, Article 11.

Hillwig, T. C., Reindl, N., Rotter, H. M., Rengstorf, A. W., Heber, U., and Irrgang, A., 2022, “Two evolved close binary stars: GALEX J015054.4+310745 and the central star of the planetary nebula Hen 2-84,” MNRAS, 511, 2.

Fernández-Valenzuela, E., Ortiz, J. L., Holler, B., Vara-Lubiano, M., Morales, N., Sicardy, B., Vachier, F., Desmars, J., Braga-Ribas, F., Rustamkulov, Z., de la Vega, A., Warner, E., Conti, D., Lecacheux, J., Francini, R., Langill, P., Morales, R., Jehin, E., Fraser, W. C., and Souami, D. and the Lucky Star and Hi’iaka’s occultation Teams, 2021, “The stellar occultations by the largest satellite of the dwarf planet Haumea, Hi’iaka,” European Planetary Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-609.

See Google Scholar Citations

Previous Roles

• Faculty Fellow, College of Engineering and Sciences, 2020-2021
• Faculty Fellow, Honors College, 2017-2019