NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, High Energy Astrophysics Division
Greenbelt, MarylandCurriculum vitae
Anna Trindade Falcão
NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow · Multiwavelength observational astrophysicist
Accretion onto supermassive black holes, highly ionized gas, multiphase outflows, and AGN-galaxy interaction from nuclear to galactic scales.
Research profile
Spatially resolved multiwavelength AGN astrophysics
I study how accreting supermassive black holes launch multiphase outflows and investigate how those outflows interact with, and potentially transfer energy to, gas in their host galaxies. My research combines spatially resolved X-ray imaging and spectroscopy with multiwavelength observations to test connections between nuclear winds and feedback on galactic scales.
- Current position
- NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow
- Scientific focus
- Accretion, multiphase outflows, and AGN-galaxy interaction
- Key observatories
- Chandra · Hubble · XMM-Newton · NuSTAR · VLA
- Spatial scales
- Nuclear regions to host galaxies
Appointments
July 2025 - present
Postdoctoral Researcher
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Cambridge, MassachusettsUniversity Research Assistant
The Catholic University of America
Washington, DCSelected scientific contributions
Luminous type 2 quasars
Resolving highly ionized gas across nuclear and galactic scales
What the observations showChandra imaging and spectroscopy, compared with Hubble maps of ionized gas, reveal extended, predominantly photoionized X-ray emission in two nearby type 2 quasars.
Physical interpretationThe contrasting X-ray and [O III] structures are consistent with a possible sequence from compact nuclear winds to larger-scale wind-gas interaction, although the causal feedback picture remains model dependent.
Read the publication NGC 5728
Mapping a multiphase circumnuclear medium with Chandra
What the observations showDeep Chandra imaging and spatially resolved spectroscopy resolve extended soft X-ray structures and Fe K emission across the circumnuclear region.
Physical interpretationTheir spatial relationship to optical, millimeter, and radio structures helps identify where the AGN-driven flow may interact with the surrounding interstellar medium.
Read the publication MCG-03-34-64
Resolving a candidate compact dual active nucleus
What the observations showHubble resolves compact optical emission regions, while Chandra resolves two Fe Kα peaks separated by approximately 100 pc and VLA imaging provides complementary radio constraints.
Physical interpretationThe aligned multiwavelength structures favor a candidate dual active galactic nucleus, but they do not definitively exclude a single active nucleus interacting with surrounding gas.
Read the publication NGC 5005
Connecting weak accretion to circumnuclear gas excitation
What the observations showX-ray spectroscopy characterizes a weakly accreting, unobscured low-luminosity nucleus, while optical emission-line diagnostics map the surrounding excitation structure.
Physical interpretationTogether, the measurements separate nuclear accretion from extended gas excitation and test the relative roles of the active nucleus, shocks, and star formation without attributing every structure to feedback.
Read the publication Education
Ph.D. in Physics, cum laude
The Catholic University of America
Dissertation: Spatially-Resolved Mass Outflows in QSOs: Implications for AGN FeedbackM.S. in Physics, cum laude
The Catholic University of America
B.S. in Physics
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Selected talks and science communication
Invited seminar
Watching a Black Hole Wind Grow
From the Nucleus to Galaxy-Scale Outflows
NRL Astronomy & Astrophysics Seminar
Science communication
Commentary on a Close Black-Hole Pair in the Early Universe
Live Science
Independent perspective on the JWST and ALMA evidence for an obscured dual-AGN candidateSelected publications
High Resolution (<100 pc) Ionization Structures in the ISM of AGN ESO 137-G34
Król, D. Ł., et al.
The Astrophysical Journal, 1005, 230Fast, dust-poor outflows in the local candidate dual AGN MCG-03-34-64 observed with VLT/ERIS
Lamperti, I., et al.
Astronomy & Astrophysics, 710, A193Ultra-thick warm absorbers: Enlarging the parameter space of AGN ionised outflows
Middei, R., et al.
Astronomy & Astrophysics, 710, A118Directly Tracking the Rebrightening of a Supermassive Black Hole Accretion Disk
Middei, R., et al.
The Astrophysical Journal, 1004, 200Tracking Down the Broadband Polarimetric Properties of PG 1553+113
Middei, R., et al.
The Astrophysical Journal, 1004, 130Winds of Change: XRISM Resolve X-Ray Spectroscopy of NGC 4051
Reeves, J. N., et al.
The Astrophysical Journal, 1001, 137Active Galactic Nuclei-driven Metallicity Enrichment in the Interstellar Medium of Mrk 573
Król, D. Ł., et al.
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 1000, L43Hot, Photoionized X-Ray Gas in Two Luminous Type 2 Quasars: Chandra-HST Evidence for a Wind-driven Sequence
Trindade Falcão, A., et al.
The Astrophysical Journal, 1000, 242Methods and software
Methods
- Spatially resolved X-ray imaging and spectroscopy of active nuclei and host-galaxy gas
- Broadband X-ray spectral modeling of obscured and unobscured accretion
- Optical and infrared emission-line diagnostics and kinematic analysis
- Photoionization and plasma modeling of multiphase outflows
- Multiwavelength image registration and comparison across X-ray, optical, infrared, millimeter, and radio bands
- Radio and millimeter interferometric imaging of compact nuclear structure
Software
- Chandra analysis: CIAO, Sherpa, SAOImage DS9
- XMM-Newton and NuSTAR analysis: SAS, HEASoft, NuSTARDAS
- X-ray spectral fitting: XSPEC
- Photoionization modeling: Cloudy
- Radio interferometry: CASA
- Optical and infrared data reduction: IRAF
- Scientific Python: Astropy, NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib
Professional service
Referee
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Nature
Seminar Organizer
- Center for Astrophysics High Energy Astrophysics Division Seminar
Scientific Organizing Committees
- AGN Winds on the Chesapeake
Panel and Time Allocation Review
- National Science Foundation Astronomy & Astrophysics Grants (2025)
- Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 33 (2025)
- XRISM Cycle 1 (2024)
- James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 3 (2023)
Professional Membership
- HEASARC Users Group
Complete record