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Research
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This page highlights my involvement in research in reversed chronological order.

Peering into Sgr B2 with JWST

Despite the high extinction towards the center of the Galaxy, JWST can probe deep inside massive star-forming clouds. Our JWST program 5365 observed Sagittarius B2 with NIRCam and MIRI. 

Cataloging H2O masers in Sgr B2 - a massive star forming region

Sagittarius B2 is the most massive molecular cloud with the highest star formation rate towards the Galactic center. Such regions allow us to study the formation conditions and evolution of the majority of the current stars, 
My current research project involves cataloging H2O masers in Sgr B2 using VLA data. Water masers are usually found around massive, young stars.

ACES: The ALMA CMZ  Exploration Survey (collaboration)

I am a part of data reduction and fundamental measurements teams.

High Mass Star Formation in Sgr B2

The densest star forming cloud in our galaxy, Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2), is a powerful laboratory for studying star formation and evolution in conditions similar to the most active period of cosmic star formation. Recent work suggests that more massive stars than normally expected in young clusters near the Galactic Center (Hosek 2019). 

In this project, using 500 AU resolution ALMA 1 mm and 3 mm continuum data, we surveyed the protostellar cores in the most actively star-forming molecular cloud - Sgr B2. We detected 410 individual sources most consistent with Stage 0/I YSOs that are warmer, larger, and denser than in the rest of the Galaxy.
| Protostellar Cores in Sagittarius B2 N and M, Budaiev et al., 2024 | Master's presentation | Poster |

A 6 GHz continuum map of the inner Galactic plane

There is yet little known about the relationship between Diffused Ionized Gas (DIG) and HII regions. The large scale structures of DIG can shed the light on the formation of galaxies and evolution of high-mass star formation regions. 
I spent a summer at the Green Bank Observatory working on a 4-8 GHz continuum map of the inner Galactic plane using data from the GBT Diffuse Ionized Gas Survey (GDIGS).
| AAS poster | End of the project report | GBO lunch talk |

Characterizing the Performance of the GBT Autocorrelation Spectrometer System

Autocorrelation Spectrometer (ACS) was the spectroscopy instrument on the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) until 2012.
Based on Radio Recombination Lines (RRL) of four Galactic HII regions (NGC7538, S206, S209, G29.9) I estimated the intensity level at which the RRL measurements of the instrument become unreliable to be ~ 2 mK. I also analyzed the performance of the instrument using various measurements vs change in principle quantum number (energy level) for each of the HII regions.
Some of my code was used to generate figures for observations of 3He+ in Planetary Nebulae (Bania & Balser, 2020).