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Brandon Hensley

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Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive

Pasadena, CA 91109

Email:

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Curriculum Vitae:

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Member of:

Origin of the Universe

Biography

Dr. Brandon Hensley is known for his work on interstellar dust: its physical nature, its use as tool to study the interstellar medium of the Milky Way and other galaxies, and its role as a foreground for Cosmic Microwave Background experiments. He enjoys working at the interface of theory and data analysis using observations across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Education

  • PhD, Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, 2015
  • MA, Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, 2012
  • BS, Physics, Caltech, 2010

Professional Experience

  • 2022-2023: Associate Research Scholar, Princeton University
  • 2018-2022: Spitzer Fellow, Princeton University
  • 2015-2018: Postdoctoral Fellow, JPL

Research Interests

Dust, Interstellar Medium, Cosmic Microwave Background, Galaxies, Intensity Mapping, Small Particle Optics, Astrostatistics

Selected Awards

  • Lyman Spitzer, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2018–2022
  • Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award, 2014
  • NSF Graduate Research Fellow, 2010–2013
  • George W. and Bernice E. Green Prize for undergraduate research, 2010
  • Caltech Perpall Speaking Competition–Second place, 2010
  • Caltech SURF Fellow 2007, 2008, 2009
  • ARCS Foundation Scholar, 2007–2010
  • Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholar, 2006–2010

Selected Publications

  1. Hensley, B., J. M. Siegal‑Gaskins, and V. Pavlidou. “The Detectability of Dark Matter Annihilation with Fermi Using the Anisotropy Energy Spectrum of the Gamma‑ray Background.” 2010, ApJ, 723, 277
  2. Hensley, B., V. Pavlidou, and J. M. Siegal‑Gaskins. “Novel Techniques for Decomposing Diffuse Backgrounds.” 2013, MNRAS, 433, 591
  3. Hensley, B., J. P. Ostriker, and L. Ciotti. “Grain Physics and Infrared Dust Emission in Active Galactic Nucleus Environments.” 2014, ApJ, 789, 78
  4. Hensley, B., E. J. Murphy, and J. Staguhn. “Characterizing Extragalactic Anomalous Microwave Emission in NGC 6946 with CARMA.” 2015, MNRAS, 449, 809
  5. Hensley, B., B. T. Draine, and A. Meisner. “A Case Against Spinning PAHs as the Source of the Anomalous Microwave Emission.” 2016, ApJ, 827, 1
  6. Hensley, B. and B. T. Draine. “Thermodynamics and Charging of Interstellar Iron Nanoparticles.” 2017, ApJ, 834, 134
  7. Hensley, B. and B. T. Draine. “Modeling the Anomalous Microwave Emission with Spinning Nanoparticles: No PAHs Required.” 2017, ApJ, 836, 2
  8. Hensley, B. and P. Bull. “Mitigating Complex Dust Foregrounds in Future CMB Polarization Experiments.” 2018, ApJ, 853, 2
  9. Sun, G., B. Hensley, et al. “A Self‑Consistent Framework for Multi‑Line Modeling in Line Intensity Mapping Experiments.” 2019, ApJ, 887, 142
  10. Hensley, B., C. Zhang, and J. Bock. “An Imprint of the Galactic Magnetic Field in the Diffuse Unpolarized Dust Emission.” 2019, ApJ, 887, 159
  11. Hensley, B. and B. T. Draine. “Detection of PAH Absorption and Determination of the Mid‑Infrared Diffuse Interstellar Extinction Curve from the Sightline Toward Cyg OB2–12.” 2020, ApJ, 895, 38
  12. Hensley, B. and B. T. Draine. “Observational Constraints on the Physical Properties of Interstellar Dust in the Post‑Planck Era.” 2021, ApJ, 906, 73
  13. Guan, Y., S. E. Clark, B. Hensley, et al. “The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Microwave Intensity and Polarization Maps of the Galactic Center.” 2021, ApJ, 920, 6
  14. Hensley, B., C. E. Murray, and M. Dodici. “Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, the Anomalous Microwave Emission, and Their Connection to the Cold Neutral Medium.” 2022, ApJ, 926, 23
  15. Hensley, B., S. E. Clark, V. Fanfani, et al. “The Simons Observatory: Galactic Science Goals and Forecasts.” 2022, ApJ, 929, 166
  16. Hensley, B. and B. T. Draine. “The Astrodust+PAH Model: A Unified Description of the Extinction, Emission, and Polarization from Dust in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium.” 2023, ApJ, 948, 55
  17. Herman, D., B. Hensley, et al. “BeyondPlanck XV. Limits on large‑scale polarized anomalous microwave emission from Planck LFI and WMAP.” 2023, A&A, 675, 15
  18. Córdova Rosado, R., B. Hensley, et al. “The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Galactic Dust Structure and the Cosmic PAH Background in Cross‑correlation with WISE.” Submitted to ApJ. arXiv:2307.06352

Projects

COMAP
PASIPHAE