Professor Leslie Looney

Leslie is a professor of Astronomy. With an undergraduate in Electrical Engineering and Physics, he has worked as a system engineer at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for the Space Shuttle's digital processing system (i.e., computers, interfaces, and software). Afterwards, he obtained a Ph.D. in astrophysics in 1998. At the UIUC since 2002, Leslie's main research topic is the formation of stars. In particular, he examines the earliest stages of star formation, where there is a disk surrounding the protostar in which we think the initial seeds of planets are forming. As protostars are deeply embedded in the material from which they form, Leslie uses some of the world's most sensitive telescopes ranging from infrared to millimeter wavelengths.