About Me

Hello! I'm Maura Shea, a fourth-year graduate student working on my PhD in Astronomy at Georgia State University. I work under Professor Mike Crenshaw on active galactic nuclei (AGN) processes. See my Research section for more details!

I am originally from Massachusetts, and I graduated with my BA in Astrophysics (with a minor in Jazz Music!) from Wellesley College in 2020. In my free time, I enjoy reading, sewing, and hiking.

I am passionate about education and outreach. My focus in graduate school has been developing Georgia State Universtiy's Physics and Astronomy REU program.

Feel free to contact me at mshea3@gsu.edu!

     

My Research

    Active Galactic Nuclei Outflows | Advisor: Dr. Mike Crenshaw

    Composite image of Stephan’s Quintet. Mid- and Near-IR from JWST (NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI), with X-ray from Chandra in blue (NASA/CXC/SAO).

    At the center of every galaxy is a supermassive black hole (SMBH). Of these, about 5 to 10 percent are actively accreting matter and are known as Active Galactic Nuclei, or AGN. My area of focus is the compact galaxy group Stephan's Quintet.

    Within Stephan’s Quintet, NGC 7319 is an AGN that is ionizing the surrounding gas and driving it outwards. I am studying Stephan’s Quintet in particular because it is a compact galaxy group. Compact Galaxy groups are small, densely packed groups of galaxies that experience high rates of galactic interactions, which can induce tidal flows of gas between galaxies. The goal of my project is to see how an AGN may affect not only its host galaxy, but the entire compact group, and vice versa. Specifically, we aim to disentangle which gas movements are due to AGN-powered outflows, galactic rotation, or gravitationally-driven tidal flows.


    Much of my research uses data from the Kitt Peak Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph (KOSMOS) at Apache Point Observatory (APO). I observe using the ARC 3.5 meter telescope both in person and remotely.

    The 2D spectra from KOSMOS capture the H-alpha 6563 A emission line, which is indicative of AGN ionization and star formation. We fit the lines with multiple Gaussians using a program called the Bayesian Evidence Analysis Tool (see Fischer et al. 2017). From the fits, we know the velocities of each component of gas, which we then use to analyze the kinematics of the system!

    You can find more details about my current research on my AAS iPoster here!


Outreach

I am a member of the Undergraduate Research Committee, which focuses on the development of undergraduate reasearch at GSU. During the summer, I plan and execute weekly professional development seminars for the REU students and local summer students. These include workshop-style sessions to help students write research reports and improve their CVs, as well as panel-style sessions on graduate schools, careers, and more! We also organize a lunch talk series to give the students a taste of every type of research offered at GSU. Outside of the professional delevopment activies, I also help to mentor the students within my research group.

As a graduate of a women's college, I am passionate about advocating for women in STEM. To this end, I serve as co-Vice President for the GSU branch of Women in Physics. We organize coffee hours with colloquim speakers, host networking events, and organize panels on careers, internships, and graduate school. I also enjoy attending the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics, where I serve as a mentor and panelist.

I also enjoy doing outreach activities at Atlanta schools, and giving public talks at rural libraries and museums!



Selected Publications, Posters, and Presentations

An Analysis of AGN Feedback in the Compact Galaxy Group Stephan's Quintet. (2025, April). Submitted to ApJ.

Probing AGN Feeding & Feedback in a Compact Galaxy Group: The Case of Stephan’s Quintet and NGC 7319. (2024, January). iPoster session presented at the 243rd American Astronomical Society Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana. Chambliss Award winning poster.

Kinematic Maps of the Ionized Gas in Stephan’s Quintet and its Active Galaxy NGC 7319. (2023, June). Presentation at the AGN Winds on the Chesapeake Conference, Easton, Maryland.

Imaging Black Holes and Jets with a VLBI Array Including Multiple Space-Based Telescopes. (2020, January). Published in the Space VLBI special issue of Advances in Space Research, Volume 65, Issue 1. DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2019.03.029.

Curriculum Vitae