Skip to Content
Astronomy

Spark of Science: Chiara Mingarelli

How stars and UFOs set one astrophysicist on her path.

11:24 AM CDT on April 22, 2016

Mingarelli_HERO

Mingarelli_HERO

Chiara Mingarelli has a pretty sweet gig. As the Marie Curie Fellow at Caltech, Mingarelli gets to hunt for gravity waves down the hall from some of the luminaries in the field. She was there when the recent, historic detection of kilohertz-frequency gravity waves by the LIGO experiment was announced. And she is working on detecting nanohertz-frequency waves, using distant pulsars instead of Earth-bound lasers.

Long before she got to her current position, Mingarelli was a child in small-town Ontario, looking up at the sky. This is the story of how she got hooked on physics. You can add your own story at spark.nautil.us.

View Video

Related Stories

This Dark Spot on the Moon Might Be a Giant Lunar Cave

NASA wants to explore it—perhaps as a potential moon base?

October 26, 2026

Was This the Exact Date of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”?

Astronomers look beyond the stars in search of Van Gogh’s inspiration

October 23, 2026

63 Years Ago This Week, Félicette Became the First Cat in Space

She’s still the only feline to have the honor

October 21, 2026

Are Our Hearts Strong Enough to Get to Mars?

Prolonged space travel can wreak havoc on the circulatory system

October 20, 2026

A Stunning Nebula Image Predicts How Our Sun Will Die

A light show lasting 25,000 years

October 16, 2026