Dr. Rapson conducts research in the field of observational astronomy, community outreach and science education. During her graduate career, Dr. Rapson used ground and space based telescopes to study planet forming disks around nearby young stars. Since starting her career at Oneonta, she has focused more on conducting observations of exoplanet transits, and helping confirm the presence of exoplanetary systems identified by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). She also obtains data on transients such as stellar nova and supernova explosions. Dr. Rapson also facilitates community events for exciting astronomical phenomena, like solar and lunar eclipses, and participates in science education research related to these activities. Undergraduate and graduate students are heavily involved in all her research projects.
https://suny.oneonta.edu/news-events/summer-2023-student-research-fellowship-projects
Publications
- Rapson, V., Pietrow, A., Cumming, R. et. al. “Why Every Solar Eclipse Viewing Event Needs A Disco Ball”, 2024, submitted to CAPJournal, currently under peer review
- Rapson, V., Pietrow, A., Cumming, R. “Solar Disco: Using a Disco Ball for Eclipse Projection and Public Outreach”, 2024, Bulletin of the AAS, 56, 3
- Rapson, V.,“Earth and Space Science Exploration Day: Introducing 4-H youth to Citizen Science”, 2024, ASP 2022: A Virtual Conference, ASP Conference Series, 537, 18
- Debes, J. H,; Poteet, C. A., Jang-Condell, H., Gaspar, A., Hines, D., Kastner, J. H., Pueyo, L., Rapson, V., Roberge, A. Schneider, G.; Weinberger, A. J., “Chasing Shadows: Rotation of the Azimuthal Asymmetry in the TW Hya Disk”, 2017, APJ, 825, 205
- Samarasinha, N. H., (Rapson, V. co-author), “Results from the worldwide coma morphology campaign for comet ISON (C/2012 S1)”, 2015, P&SS, 118, 127
- Rapson, V., Kastner, J. H., Millar-Blanchaer, M., Dong, R., “Peering into the Giant-planet-forming Region of the TW Hydrae Disk with the Gemini Planet Imager”, 2015, ApJL, 815, 26
- Rapson, V., Kastner, J. H., Andrews, S. M., Hines, D. C., Macintosh, B., Millar-Blanchaer, M., Tamura, M. “Scattered Light from Dust in the Cavity of the V4046 Sgr“, 2015, ApJL, 803, 10
- Rapson, V., Kastner, J. H., Sacco, G. G., Sargent, B., Wilner, D. , Rosenfeld, K. Andrews, S. M., Herczeg, G., van der Marel, N. “A Combined Spitzer and Herschel Infrared Study of Gas and Dust in the Circumbinary Disk Orbiting V4046 Sgr“, 2015, ApJ, 810, 62
- Rapson, V. “Reaching for the Stars in your Golden Years: the Importance of Outreach for Senior Citizens”, 2014, Communicating Astronomy with the Public journal, Issue #15
- Rapson, V., Pipher, J. L., Gutermuth, R. A, Megeath, S. T., Allen, T., Kastner, J. H., Myers, P. “A Spitzer View of the Giant Molecular Cloud Mon OB1/NGC 2264“, 2014, ApJ, 794, 124
