Eliza Hahn Neights

I study the brief flashes of gamma rays produced by powerful jets that arise from events such as the deaths of massive stars and collisions of neutron stars—the incredibly dense remains of exploded stars. I investigate the physical origins and processes that power these gamma-ray bursts using gamma-ray telescopes in space, and I explore the science enabled by next-generation gamma-ray instruments.

I am currently a Chateaubriand Fellow at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie in Toulouse, France while completing my final year as a physics PhD student at George Washington University. My PhD research has primarily been carried out at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. I graduated from Penn State in 2021 with majors in astronomy & astrophysics and physics and a minor in mathematics.

Outside of research, I play harp, dance Brazilian zouk, boulder, and hike.