Steve Skinner
Senior Research Associate
Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy
University of Colorado
389 UCB
Boulder, Colorado 80309-0389
My research focuses on observational studies of young stars, star-forming regions, and massive Wolf-Rayet stars. I make use of several space-based telescopes including the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observatories, the Spitzer infrared telescope, and  HST in the ultraviolet. I have been using these telescopes and others including the Very Large Array (VLA) to determine the properties of high-speed bipolar jets ejected by young stars and how such jets are heated to UV and X-ray emitting temperatures. I am also investigating the effects of X-ray heating on the circumstellar disks and protoplanets surrounding young T Tauri stars. My interest in Wolf-Rayet stars (which are supernova progenitors) centers on the origin of their bright X-ray emission and its relation to high-temperature shocks formed in their supersonic winds.