Figure 1 from Wenzel et al. (2026), ApJL, 1006, L38.
Phenalene Detected Beyond TMC-1
In a study led by Gabi Wenzel, our collaboration detected the three-ring molecule phenalene (C13H10) in MC27/L1521F, a dense cloud containing a very young protostar. This is the first interstellar detection of a three-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon outside TMC-1. Finding it in a source where star formation has begun gives us a new way to test how these carbon-rich molecules survive, form, or are replenished as clouds evolve toward stars and planets.
Congratulations to Dr. Alex Byrne and Dr. Zach Fried!
Alex Byrne and Zach Fried received their Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry at MIT’s advanced degree conferral ceremony on May 27. Congratulations, Alex and Zach!
MIT Haystack Observatory’s 37-meter telescope has returned to astronomical research following an extended period of upgrades. Brett plans to use the telescope to search for complex organic molecules in space, adding a nearby observing resource to our efforts to understand the chemistry that accompanies star and planet formation.
Brett Receives MIT’s Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award
Brett and MIT EECS Associate Professor Jacob Andreas have been named the recipients of the 2026 Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award. The award recognizes distinction in teaching, research, and service. Brett’s nominators highlighted his work on carbon chemistry in space, his teaching in 5.111, and his outreach and service to the MIT and astrochemistry communities.
Brett Named 2026 Harold Linnartz Astrochemistry Prize Lecturer
Leiden Observatory selected Brett for its 2026 Harold Linnartz Astrochemistry Prize Lecture, which recognizes early-career researchers working at the boundary of astronomy and chemistry. The announced lecture is titled The Evolution of Aromatic Chemistry in Interstellar Space. Congratulations, Brett!
Brett has been named a 2026 Sloan Research Fellow in Chemistry. The fellowships recognize early-career researchers for their creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments. He is one of eight MIT faculty members selected this year.
The LAD Early Career Award is given to an individual who has made significant contributions to the field within 10 years of receiving their PhD. The award recognizes Gabi's transformative discoveries of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules (PAHs) in the interstellar medium through high-resolution microwave spectroscopy and radioastronomical observations. Congratulations Gabi!
GOTHAM Team Shares Largest Public Molecular Survey To-Date
After more than 1,400 hours of observations with the Green Bank Telescope, the GOTHAM team has released the largest public dataset of interstellar molecular spectra ever collected from the TMC-1 cloud, revealing over 100 interstellar molecules, including numerous complex aromatic species.
ChemXploreML Makes Molecular Property Prediction More Accessible
Aravindh Nivas Marimuthu and Brett developed ChemXploreML, a desktop application that helps chemists build machine-learning models for molecular property prediction without extensive programming experience. The application brings molecular representations, model training, and performance analysis into one graphical interface and can run entirely offline. MIT News featured the software and the team’s paper in the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.
Cyanocoronene, a seven-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, was detected in TMC-1 by the GOTHAM Collaboration in a study led by Gabi Wenzel. It is currently the largest interstellar molecule discovered through radio astronomy!
Congratulations to Hannah for successfully defending her dissertation!
McGuire Group Detects New Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon in Space
In a study led by Gabi Wenzel, the GOTHAM Collaboration detected several isomers of cyanopyrene (a four ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) in TMC-1.
Zach Fried Receives 2024 International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy Rao Prize
This prize is awarded for a graduate student presentation at the International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy hosted at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Zach received this award for his talk on the recent interstellar detection of 2-methoxyethanol. Congratulations, Zach!
Marty Receives MIT Chemistry Mentorship Spotlight Award
This award recognizes individuals who demonstrate exceptional commitment to fostering a positive working environment for those around them, leading by example, and generally demonstrating outstanding mentorship. Congratulations, Marty!
Alongside a global collaboration, members of the McGuire group worked to measure and analyze the rotational spectrum of 2-methoxyethanol (CH3OCH2CH2OH). This new data ultimately resulted in the first interstellar detection of the molecule toward the star-forming region NGC 6334I.
Gabi Receives MIT School of Science Infinite Expansion Award
The recipients of the Infinite Expansion Award are recognized not only for their exceptional science, but for mentoring and advising junior colleagues, supporting educational programs, working with the MIT Postdoctoral Association, or contributing some other way to the Institute. Congratulations, Gabi!
McGuire Group Attends the Green Bank Single Dish Summer School and GBT Training Workshop
Alex, Jasmine, Miya, Gabi, Zach, Archie, Hannah, and Marty traveled to Green Bank, West Virginia from August 7-14 for the 2023 Single Dish Summer School and GBT Training Workshop. This summer school provides students, post-docs, and experts in other fields of astronomy with both knowledge and practical experience of the techniques and applications of single-dish radio astronomy. The workshops are based around an intensive series of lectures from experts, as well as hands-on radio-astronomy projects and tutorials.
McGuire Group Attends the Kavli-IAU Astrochemistry Symposium
The entire group attended the Kavli-IAU Astrochemistry Symposium in Traverse City, Michigan from July 10-14, 2023. Brett gave a talk regarding the development of molecular complexity in the interstellar medium. Alex, Hannah, Zach, and Gabi also presented posters.
McGuire Group Attends the 2023 International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy
The entire group attended the 2023 International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy (ISMS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Gabi, Hannah, Alex, Zach, and Ceci all gave research talks.
Zach attended the 2023 Astrobiology Graduate Conference (AbGradCon) in La Jolla, California from May 22-25. He presented his research regarding the use of machine learning regressors to model the chemical abundances and isotopic ratios of the molecules in the protostar IRAS 16293-2422B.
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who have demonstrated the potential to be high achieving scientists and engineers, early in their careers. Congratulations, Alex!
McGuire Group Attends K-Band Science Meeting at the Green Bank Observatory
Brett, Ceci, Alex, Hannah, and Zach traveled to Green Bank to discuss the science being conducted in the K-Band range of frequencies with the Green Bank Telescope. Brett provided a talk regarding the use of the K-Band for astrochemistry.
This graduate fellowship provides support to graduate students within the MIT School of Science with a preference for students who are active users of MATLAB and/or Simulink. Congratulations, Hannah!
Ceci Wins the Robert Brown Outstanding Dissertation Award
This award is given each year to a recent recipient of a doctoral degree from any recognized degree granting institution in the United States, and is substantially based on new observational data obtained at any AUI operated facility and considered to be of an exceptionally high scientific standard value and impact within and beyond the area of study. Congratulations, Ceci!
The first two papers from McGuire's GOTHAM (GBT Observations of TMC-1: Hunting Aromatic Molecules) Collaboration were published, reporting on an overview of the project and detection of propargyl cyanide (HCCCH2CN) for the first time in the interstellar medium (McGuire et al. 2020) and the first detection of the HC4NC molecule in the interstellar medium (Xue et al. 2020).
McGuire shares the honor with eleven brilliant young chemists (average age: 34). As part of the program, McGuire will give a talk at the C&EN Futures Festival August 25-26, 2020.
Kelvin Presents on Machine Learning in Spectroscopy @ SciPy 2020
Solving Spectroscopic Problems with Pythonic Workflows and Deep Learning
With the advent of next generation radio telescopes and laboratory instrumentation, spectral line surveys are becoming increasingly high resolution and high bandwidth resulting in extremely line-rich spectra, collected in a mere few hours. Chemists, astronomers, and spectroscopists have to analyze spectra containing hundreds of features, often with little prior knowledge about the problem. In this talk, Kelvin discusses the development of PySpecTools, a platform for automating complex spectral analysis by implementing Pythonic workflows and probabilistic deep learning models.
