Dan Wilkins

Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics & Cosmology
Stanford University

I am a research scientist, astronomer and astrophysicist in the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University. My research focuses on how material spiralling into a supermassive black hole in the centre of a galaxy is able to release huge amounts of energy, powering some of the brightest objects we see in the Universe.

My research bridges the divide between observational and theoretical studies of black holes, using state of the art space telescopes, developing novel data analysis techniques and designing computer simulations of how light travels around black holes. I am using the X-rays that are emitted and measurements of how they reflect off of the material in its final moments before it falls in to create a 3D map of the extreme environment just outside the event horizon. I am interested in what happens to material and light just before it is lost into the black hole, how the corona that produces the radiation we see is powered, how black holes are able to launch jets at almost the speed of light, how supermassive black holes grow, and the profound effect they have on the formation of galaxies and structure in our Universe.

I work with NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on the development of next-generation X-ray missions. I am a member of the science team for the JAXA-led XRISM X-ray observatory, a member of the ESA Athena Science Working Group and of the Wide Field Imager instrument team, and have played an active role in the development of NASA's probe-class X-ray mission concepts. I am also contributing to the development of next-generation, high-speed, low-noise X-ray imaging detectors that are based on CCD technology, and leading research into how we may augment next-generation detectors with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms to enhance their sensitivity.

Latest news

  • Cunard Insights Programme - details about my lectures and other public talks I have given are available here.

  • Discovery of X-ray echoes from behind a black hole, published in Nature (Press Release, ESA Image Release)

  • New X-ray spectral-timing methods based on wavelets to measure the variation of X-ray reverberation signals from the inner accretion disc, and transform the static picture of the extreme environment outside a black hole into a movie, published in MNRAS.

I was awarded my Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 2013, working with Prof. Andy Fabian in the X-ray group of the Institute of Astronomy. I received my Masters degree in Natural Sciences (Experimental and Theoretical Physics), also from the University of Cambridge (Jesus College), in 2009.

I am passionate about communicating science to the general public. I have given a number of talks to public audiences as well as to students in local schools, youth groups and others about astronomy and physics. I am the host and co-ordinator for KIPAC’s Discover Our Universe lecture series at Stanford University. I also run stargazing evenings and have given tours and demonstrations of both modern and historical telescopes.

I give astronomy lectures as part of the Cunard Insights programme, usually on board Queen Mary 2, as well as giving live planetarium shows on board (in the largest planetarium at sea) and hosting stargazing evenings on the decks.

I spend a lot of my spare time rowing, am one of the chief umpires for the Cambridge University Bumps races.