iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

I finally found the time to update our research group webpage, including a new news section where we will share updates on our science, people, and activities. Take a look and let me know if you think anything is missing! www.physik.uni-hamburg.de/en/hs/group-...

physik.uni-hamburg.de

Observational stellar astrophysics

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

There are only a handful supernova type Ia progenitor systems known. But one of them, PTF1 J2238, has properties measured precise enough to trace back the time and understand how the system formed. Stephania Hernandez, a Postdoc in my group, led a study to explain the full history of the system 🔭🧪

The image shows the cover page of the paper by Hernandez et al. including the title and the abstract

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

@sdssurveys.bsky.social is pioneering ToO observations with a large scale multi-object spectroscopic survey. For the first time we use a MOS survey to identify transients. My MSc student, Vishaak Balasubramanya, is monitoring >10,000 accreting white dwarfs with ZTF and in the future LSST

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

How can we best observe the most compact binaries with orbital periods as short as a few minutes, close to their final merger? They are strong supernova Ia progenitor candidates crucial to cosmology and are the strongest Galactic gravitational wave sources in the @lisacommunity.bsky.social regime 🔭

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Congratulations to my PhD student Weitian (Will) Yu @uni-hamburg.de for his first 1st author paper: arxiv.org/pdf/2512.04147 He did the first detailed abundance analysis of an ultracompact AMCVn binary ZTFJ2252-0519. What did we learn from this analysis (1/7) 🔭

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

I had so much fun presenting our @eso.org Expanding horizons idea for the Time Domain Telescope and its connection to multi-messenger astrophysics at the @germanastrosoc.bsky.social meeting organized by the Deutsches Zentrum für Astrophysik in the really pretty town Görlitz. 🔭🧪

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Thanks a lot for organizing a great town hall about the different ideas for the ESO Expanding horizons program 🔭

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

This week we welcomed the BlackGEM collaboration for a team meeting at Hamburg Observatory. We had lots of exciting science presentations and many fruitful conversations about the amazing science we already have been doing with BlackGEM and will be doing in the future.

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Three weeks ago my close collaborator and friend Brad N. Barlow came to visit us at the observatory with one of his graduate students. We had a great collaboration meeting with lots of inspiring discussions!

Group picture of the research group of Prof. Kupfer in front of the main building at Hamburg Observatory

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Looking Forward to great 3 day visit at @maxplanck.de for Astrophysics to give the Joint Astro Colloquium.

Picture shows the front of the Max Planck Institute of Astrophysics

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Today, we had a very inspiring Colloquium on the incredible things we will be able to do with @lisacommunity.bsky.social Valeriya certainly sparked lots of interest about the mission here at Hamburg observatory

The picture shows the presenter giving the talk in the historic library at Hamburg observatory

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

I am looking for a PhD student to join us at Hamburg observatory to work on compact binaries, LISA sources and supernova Ia progenitors. The position is funded through my ERC starting grant. Application deadline is February 28th and you can apply follow the link: www.uni-hamburg.de/stellenangeb...

uni-hamburg.de

Ausschreibung

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Students from North American, British and Irish universities, here is something for you. The RISE program provides funding for a summer internship at a German research institute. See here for more details: www.daad.de/rise/en/rise...

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 10/10/2024

Following a recommendation from the Early-Definition Astrophysics Survey Assessment Committee, the Nancy Roman Space telescope will conduct a community-defined Galactic Plane General Astrophysics Survey, of up to approximately 700 hours.

roman.gsfc.nasa.gov

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 30/09/2024

Hamburg has a reputation for Schietwetter but that is not true. We have plenty of wonderful clear nights where we can observe gravitational wave sources. As these sources radiate gravitational waves they lose angular momentum which causes the orbit to shrink slowly.

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 08/07/2024

I'm super excited for a week full of LISA science at the gorgeous UCD campus #LISASymposiumXV

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 06/05/2024

I had a blast talking about the incredible science we will do with LISA at the @uni-hamburg.de Wissen vom Fass event in this cozy bar in Hamburg

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 01/02/2024

Super excited about the adoption of LISA. Looking forward to the years ahead of us at @uni-hamburg.de

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 10/01/2024

Excited for the science we are going to do with BlackGEM

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Thomas Kupfer @thomkupfer.bsky.social · 18/12/2023

Congratulations to my former Master Student Corey Bradshaw for his first 1st author paper: arxiv.org/pdf/2312.067.... We studied a prominent member of a new class of pulsators to derive its evolutionary history . Corey will continue this study on a large sample at @uni-hamburg.de as PhD student.

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