Publications

Scholarly publications include research related to astrophysical phenomena, science education, and spacecraft science operations.  You can find a link to his complete bibliography online at ADS (sorted by citation counts).

Below are selected highlights in each area to provide sense of depth and breadth.

Science Education & Communication

Improving Science Content Learning with Choreographed Songs, Doss, K., Mangan, J. M, Virani, S. N., Newman, D., 2017, submitted.

Cognitive Gains of Middle-School Aged Students During a One-Week Summer Astronomy Camp, Mangan, J. M., Almarode, J., Virani, S. N., 2017, submitted.

Tracking Girls' Interest in Science with Summer Astronomy Camp: Demographic Data, Mangan, J. M., Blackman, M. C., Virani, S. N., 2017, submitted.

Using Social Media in Informal Science Education, Turner, R. & Virani, S. N., 2015, Southeastern Planetarium Association.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a One-Week Space-Themed Day Camp for Middle School Students, Mangan, J. M., Virani, S. N., Kaznovsky, C., 2013, American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2013.

Astrophysical Research

The Sudden Death of the Nearest Quasar, Schawinski, K., Evans, D. A., Virani, S. N., et al., 2010, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 724, Issue 1, pp. L30-L33.

Galaxy Zoo: The Fundamentally Different Co-Evolution of Supermassive Black Holes and Their Early- and Late-Type Host Galaxies, Schawinski, K., Urry, C. M., Virani, S. N., et al., 2010, The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 711, Issue 1, pp. 284-302.

The Space Density of Compton-Thick Active Galactic Nucleus and the X-Ray Background, Treister, E., Urry, C. M., Virani, S. N., 2009, The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 696, Issue 1, pp. 110-120.

Optical Spectroscopy of X-Ray Sources in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South, Treister, E., Virani, S. N., et al., 2009, The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 693, Issue 2, pp. 1713-1727.

Do Moderate-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei Suppress Star Formation?, Schawinski, K., Virani, S. N., et al., 2009, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 692, Issue 1, pp. L19-L23.

The Central Engines of Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies, Ryan, C. J., De Robertis, M. M., Virani, S. N., Laor, A., Dawson, P. C., 2008, The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 654, Issue 2, pp. 799-813.

The hot stars in orbit around the M 31 central supermassive black hole: are they young or old?, Demarque, P., Virani, S. N., 2007, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 461, Issue 2, pp.651-656.

The Extended Chandra Deep Field-South Survey: X-Ray Point-Source Catalog, Virani, S. N., Treister, E., Urry, C. M., Gawiser, E., 2006, The Astronomical Journal, Volume 131, Issue 5, pp. 2373-2382.

Chandra Measurement of the X-Ray Spectrum of a Quasar at z = 5.99, Schwartz, D. A., Virani, S. N., 2004, The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 615, Issue 1, pp. L21-L24.

A CCD Study of the Environment of Seyfert Galaxies. III. Host Galaxies and the Nearby Environments, Virani, S. N., De Robertis, M. M., VanDalfsen, M. L., 2000, The Astronomical Journal, Volume 120, Issue 4, pp. 1739-1749.

Spacecraft Science Operations

Improving the science observing efficiency of the Chandra X-ray Observatory via the Chandra radiation model, Virani, S. N., DePasquale, J. M., Schwartz, D. A., Cameron, R. A., Plucinsky, P. P., O'Dell, S. L., Minow, J. I., Blackwell, W. C., Jr., 2004, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII. Edited by Flanagan, Kathryn A.; Siegmund, Oswald H. W. Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 5165, pp. 530-541.

A study of the seasonal variations of the Chandra X-ray Observatory radiation model, DePasquale, J. M., Virani, S. N., Schwartz, D. A., Cameron, R. A., Plucinsky, P. P., O'Dell, S. L., Minow, J. I., Blackwell, W. C., Jr., 2004, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII. Edited by Flanagan, Kathryn A.; Siegmund, Oswald H. W. Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 5165, pp. 554-564.

A possible meteoroid impact on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory during the 2003 Leonids, Cameron, R. A., Brissenden, R. J.; Bucher, S., Gage, K., Martin, E., Shropshire, D., Virani, S. N., 2004, 35th COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 18 - 25 July 2004, in Paris, France., p.4490.

Managing radiation degradation of CCDs on the Chandra X-ray Observatory, O'Dell, S. L., Blackwell, W. C., Jr., Cameron, R. A., Minow, J. I., Morris, D. C., Spitzbart, B. J., Swartz, D. A., Virani, S. N., Wolk, S. J., 2003, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Telescopes and Instruments for Astronomy. Edited by Joachim E. Truemper, Harvey D. Tananbaum. Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 4851, pp. 77-88.

Monitoring the Health and Safety of the ACIS Instrument On-Board the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Virani, S. N., Ford, P. G., DePasquale, J. M., Plucinsky, P. P., 2002, Observatory Operations to Optimize Scientific Return III. Edited by Quinn, Peter J. Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 4844, pp. 464-475.

Optimizing the efficiency of command load inspection for the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) on the Chandra X-ray Telescope, DePasquale, J M., Virani, S. N., Plucinsky, P. P., 2002, Observatory Operations to Optimize Scientific Return III. Edited by Quinn, Peter J. Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 4844, pp. 454-463.

The ACIS Particle Background: Modeling the Spatial, Spectral, and Temporal Components, Virani, S. N., Plucinsky, P. P., 2002, American Physical Society, April Meeting, Jointly Sponsored with the High Energy Astrophysics Division (HEAD) of the American Astronomical Society April 20 - 23, 2002.

Monitoring the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Radiation Environment: Correlations between GOES-8 and Chandra/EPHIN, During DOY 89-106, 2001, Virani, S. N., Cameron, R. A., Plucinsky, P. P., Mueller-Mellin, R., O'dell, S. L., 2002, Multi-Wavelength Observations of Coronal Structure and Dynamics -- Yohkoh 10th Anniversary Meeting. Proceedings of the conference held September 17-20, 2001, at King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA. Edited by P.C.H. Martens and D. Cauffman. Published by Elsevier Science on behalf of COSPAR in the COSPAR Colloquia Series, 2002., p.411.

Chandra X-ray Observatory's radiation environment and the AP-8/AE-8 model, Virani, S. N., Mueller-Mellin, R., Plucinsky, P. P., Butt, Y. M., 2000, Proc. SPIE Vol. 4012, p. 669-680, X-Ray Optics, Instruments, and Missions III, Joachim E. Truemper; Bernd Aschenbach; Eds.

Modeling the Chandra Space Environment, Blackwell, W. C., Minow, J. I., O'Dell, S. L., Suggs, R. M., Swartz, D. A., Tennant, A. F., Virani, S. N., Warren, K. M., 2000, Proc. SPIE Vol. 4140, p. 111-122, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XI, Kathryn A. Flanagan; Oswald H. Siegmund; Eds.