Assistant Professor

• Office: 238 Norman C. Francis (NCF) Science Complex
• Phone: 504-520-7660
• Email: drichar7(at)xula.edu
• Webpage: http://webusers.xula.edu/drichar7/index.html

Research Interests
My research is in the area of supernovae (exploding stars). Recently, I have been interested in the supernovae that are associated with gamma-ray bursts. I determined just how bright these events are compared with other supernovae. The light that is observed from the gamma-ray burst includes contributions from multiple sources. I was able to extract only the light from the supernova and then determine its intrinsic brightness. In the process I was able to learn much more about each supernova; such as, the amount of mass ejected in the explosion and the amount of energy involved in each explosion. Currently, I am studying the light curves (change in brightness over time) for type IIL supernovae.