Christopher Rooney is a Ph.D student studying astronomical instrumentation

I specialize in operations and control software for cryogenic sub-mm detectors such as transition-edge sensors.

About Me

  • I plan to graduate from Cornell with a Ph.D. in Astronomy in December 2023.
  • I earned my Masters in Astronomy from Cornell in 2020.
  • I am leading the ZEUS-2 project.
    • I designed interface software that coordinates observations between the telescope and ZEUS-2
    • I designed a robust housekeeping program for logging instrument temperatures and controlling its cryogenic systems.
    • ZEUS-2 is a Cornell-designed cryogenic grating spectrometer installed on the APEX telescope (pictured).
    • It provides medium-resolution (R~1000) spectroscopy in the 200, 350, and 450 micron telluric windows available to APEX.
A photograph of Christopher Rooney with the APEX telescope in the background

Other Areas of Interest

I enjoy tinkering with hardware and software, and enjoy the challenge of managing interconnected systems.

Old Technology

Out of curiosity, I recently revived a SCSI tape backup system from my lab at Cornell and am working to transfer data from 8mm tapes, 4mm tapes, and 5.25″ optical storage media to more accessible formats. I automated part of this process with a python tool.

Clockwork

I have successfully repaired one mantleplace clock and one anniversary clock, and am gearing up to work on a clock from the late 1800s found at a thrift store.

Analog Photography and more…

RooneyWorks

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