Matthew Newby

Matthew Newby

  • Department of Physics

    Assistant Professor of Instruction in Physics

Research Interests

My research interests lie in the areas of astronomy and history, and I am dedicated to effective teaching and mentoring at all levels of university education.

In my research I study the history and dynamics of the Milky Way galaxy, using old stars, dwarf galaxies, and globular clusters in the Galactic halo. Information from these structures provides clues towards understanding the distribution and nature of dark matter, the absence of Population III stars, and the dynamics of dwarf galaxy disruption. I was previously a researcher on the advanced distributed computing project Milkway@home. I have used data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), the Chinese Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST/Guo Shoujing Telescope), and Pan-STARRS.  I have also studied Renaissance-era astronomy, including the analysis of a 1400’s-era painting depicting an astronomical scene.

I see computer and data literacy as being key skills for future thinkers and work towards improving these skills in students at all levels. I contributed to the creation of Temple’s Data Science undergraduate program, led the initiative to reorganize Temple’s undergraduate computational physics course, am an organizer of a yearly computing and statistics workshop for graduate students, and am currently part of the unique High-Performance Computing for Scientific Applications Professional Masters Program.
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My approach to teaching involves a heavy emphasis on active learning, direct applications, interdisciplinary thinking, and encouraging multiple approaches to problem solving. I also integrate professional development and ethics discussions when possible.

Key Publications

  • Fitting the Density Substructure of the Stellar Halo with MilkyWay@home . Weiss, Jake; Newberg, Heidi Jo; Newby, Matthew; Desell, Travis; The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 238, 2 (2018).
  • Milkyway-at-home/milkywayathome_client: Separation v1.46. Matt Arsenault; Siddhartha Shelton; travisdesell; Jake Weiss; Roland Judd; Shane Reilly; willeb; Jake Bauer; Yidong Ren; M Newby; Colin Rice; Jeffery M. Thompson; Dave Przybylo; Zenodo (Software Release), 2018.
  • A Spatial Characterization of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy Tidal Tails. Newby, M. et al.; Astronomical Journal, 145, 163 (2013).
  • The Stellar Metallicity Distribution Function of the Galactic Halo from SDSS Photometry. An, D.; Beers, T. C.; Johnson, J. A.; Pinsonneault, M. H.; Lee, Young, S.; Bovy, Jo; Ivezić, Ž.; Carollo, D.; Newby, M. T.; Astrophysical Journal, 763, 65 (2013).
  • Update on the Cetus Polar Stream and Its Progenitor. Yam, William; Carlin, Jeffrey L.; Newberg, Heidi Jo; Dumas, Julie; O'Malley, Erin; Newby, Matthew; Martin, Charles; The Astrophysical Journal, 776, 2, (2013).
  • Absolute Magnitudes of Turnoff Stars in Globular Clusters. Grabowski, K.; Newby, M.; Newberg, H. J.; Journal of Undergraduate Research in Physics, Volume 26.
  • On Rings and Streams in the Galactic Anti-Center. Li, J.; Newberg, H.; Carlin, J. L.; Deng, L.; Newby, M.; et al., Astrophysical Journal, 757, 151 (2012).
  • F Turnoff Distribution in the Galactic Halo Using Globular Clusters as Proxies.  Newby, M. et al., Astrophysical Journal, 743, 187 (2011).
  • Ultrafast Dynamic Reflectivity of Vanadium Pentoxide. Taft, G. J.; Newby, M. et al.; Journal of Materials Research, 23, pp 308-311 (2008).