Rebecca Kyer

Third-year astronomy PhD candidate studying binary millisecond pulsars at Michigan State University

Research

I am interested in compact binary interactions and accretion. I currently study transitional millisecond pulsars with Prof. Jay Strader. I observe for my own research and for my group with the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope located in Chile.

My previous projects include studying the X-ray variability of sources in M33 to characterize the duty cycles of high-mass X-ray binaries; creating and working with a database of the Liverpool Telescope's spectroscopic nova observations to model their ejecta; and searching for state-changing X-ray binary candidates with optical light curves from the Zwicky Transient Facility.

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First-Author Publications

Kyer, R., Roy, S., Strader, J., et al. 2025, accepted to ApJ, "Multiwavelength Evidence for Two New Candidate Transitional Millisecond Pulsars in the Sub-luminous Disk State: 4FGL J0639.1-8009 and 4FGL J1824.2+1231"

Kyer, R., Albrecht, S., Williams, B. F., et al. 2024, ApJ, "Monitoring the X-Ray Variability of Bright X-Ray Sources in M33"

Outreach & Activities

I coordinate the MSU astronomy group's Stellar Mentorship Program and organize the Physics and Astronomy Research Experiences for Drew Scholars (PAREDS). Both programs support undergraduates in astronomy and aim to retain students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Within the MSU Astro Group, I organize our weekly Astro Coffee journal club. I volunteer at the MSU campus observatory's public outreach nights, and I have presented photographic plate observations acquired there in the 1970's at Astronomy on Tap in Lansing. I am currently working to digitize the photographic plate collection to make it available to the community.

Teaching

Grader for AST 208: Planets and Telescopes, a lab for astronomy majors learning to work with optical data in Python (1 semester at MSU).
Instructor and grader for ISP 205L: Visions of the Universe, an introduction to astronomy lab for non-STEM majors (3 semesters at MSU).
Recieved Harlo Mervyn Mork Memorial Excellence in Teaching Award from the MSU College of Natural Science (Fall 2023).
Recieved Graduate TA Award from the MSU Department of Physics and Astronomy (Spring 2023, Spring 2024).

Curriculum Vitae

See my full CV

Just for fun: Film photography

One of my favorite hobbies is shooting film and working in a darkroom. I'm lucky enough to be in the same city as the last remaining community darkroom in the state of Michigan: Community Darkroom 517. Check out info about that space and some of my work below.