Henna Abunemeh

PhD Student · UIUC Astronomy

Henna is a second-year PhD student in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studying the physics of supernovae through spectroscopy.

email GitHub ADS UIUC Astronomy
Collaborations
LSST TVS · Young Supernova Experiment (YSE)
Office
133 Astronomy, 1002 W. Green St., Urbana, IL
Research Interests
Time-Domain Astrophysics Observational Cosmology Supernova Spectroscopy Transient Classification ML for Survey Science Statistical Modeling
Projects
Tool ↗
AstroDash
A web-based tool for real-time supernova spectral classification. Henna built the spectroscopic twins framework within AstroDash — identifying pairs of supernovae with near-identical spectra.
dash.scimma.org
Education
2024 – 2030

Ph.D., Astronomy

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2024

B.S., Physics — Minor in Mathematics

University of Illinois at Chicago · High Distinction
Research Experience
Jun 2025 – now

Research Assistant

UIUC Astronomy · Advisor: Gautham Narayan

Developing encoder methods for foundation AI models for astrophysical survey science, and mapping the spectroscopic diversity of supernovae including spectroscopic twins.

Aug – Dec 2023

SULI Internship

Argonne National Laboratory · Advisor: Lindsey Bleem

Tested cosmological models using CMB-S4 galaxy clusters identified via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. Analyzed selection biases from foreground contamination, spectral band choice, and noise in Argonne simulations.

Jun – Jul 2023

IDEAS Summer School REU

UIUC Astronomy

Learned spectroscopic data reduction using Gemini Observatory data. Analyzed supernova spectra to study population diversity and classified transients via SNID and AstroDash.

Teaching
Aug 2024 – May 2025

Teaching Assistant, ASTR 210

UIUC Astronomy — Introduction to Astrophysics
Publications
ApJL
A Panchromatic View of Late-time Shock Power in the Type II Supernova 2023ixf
W. V. Jacobson-Galán, L. Dessart, C. D. Kilpatrick, P. J. Patel, K. Auchettl, S. Tinyanont, R. Margutti, V. V. Dwarkadas, K. A. Bostroem, R. Chornock, R. J. Foley, H. Abunemeh, T. Ahumada, P. Arunachalam, M. J. Bustamante-Rosell, D. A. Coulter, C. Gall, H. Gao, X. Guo, J. Hjorth, D. O. Jones, M. Kaewmookda, M. M. Kasliwal, R. Kaur, C. Larison, N. LeBaron, H.-Y. Miao, G. Narayan, Y.-C. Pan, S. H. Park, K. C. Patra, Y. Qin, C. L. Ransome, A. Rest, J. Rho, S. Rose, H. Sears, J. J. Swift, K. Taggart, V. A. Villar, Q. Wang, Y. Zenati, H. Zhou
ApJL 994, L14 (2025) · doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ae157a
arXiv
Spectral Diversity in Type Ibn Supernovae and the Large Host Offset of SN 2024acyl
Y. Dong, V. A. Villar, A. Nugent, G. Hosseinzadeh, R. J. Foley, C. Gall, M. Gallegos-Garcia, C. Ransome, A. Sedgewick, D. Tsuna, S. Valenti, H. Abunemeh, M. Andrews, K. Auchettl, K. A. Bostroem, D. A. Coulter, T. de Boer, K. de Soto, D. A. Farias, J. Farah, D. Frostig, H. Gao, A. Gagliano, E. Hoang, D. A. Howell, W. B. Hoogendam, M. E. Huber, D. O. Jones, C.-C. Lin, M. Lundquist, C. McCully, D. Mehta, A. L. Piro, A. P. Ravi, N. Meza Retamal, C. Rojas-Bravo, S. K. Yadavalli, Q. Wang
arXiv:2511.03926 (2025)
arXiv
Picture an Astronomer: Best Practices for Retaining Talent in Astrophysics
A. Polzin, K. E. Whitaker, + 86 authors incl. H. Abunemeh
arXiv:2512.24465 (2025)
Note
Note
Talks & Posters
Poster
Studying Supernova Uniqueness and Population Diversity with Spectroscopy
243rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society
Talk
Examining Galaxy Cluster Selection in CMB: Simulations and Analysis
Argonne National Laboratory Internship Symposium · December 5, 2023
Talk
Studying Supernova Uniqueness and Population Diversity with Spectroscopy
Astro Summer Symposium, UIUC · July 28, 2023
Poster
Studying Supernova Uniqueness and Population Diversity with Spectroscopy
Illinois Summer Research Program Alliance, UIUC · July 26, 2023
Leadership & Outreach
2025
Co-Director, Girls Astronomy Summer Camp
UIUC Astronomy Department — Co-directed a week-long program introducing high school students to astronomy through hands-on activities, coding projects, and lectures. Managed operations, developed curriculum, and coordinated with faculty.
2025
Local Organizing Committee, LSST DESC Collaboration Meeting
UIUC — Helped with logistics, venue maps, AV support, and on-site coordination.
Aug 2024 – now
Volunteer, Astronomy Conversations
Adler Planetarium, Chicago — Talking astronomy with the public and making space science accessible and exciting.
2022 – 2024
President, UIC Physics Club & Society of Physics Students
University of Illinois at Chicago — Ran all club activities, organized workshops, mentored underclassmen, and grew the club through collaborations with astronomy and engineering groups across Chicago.
Honors & Awards
Spring 2024
Undergraduate Honors: High Distinction — UIC
Spring 2024
Inder P. and Uma Batra Memorial Physics Undergraduate Award
Fall 2023 & Spring 2024
Dean's Award for Academic Excellence — UIC
Skills
Programming
Python Bash Mathematica Git Docker
Astrophysics
Spectroscopic Reduction UCSC Spectral Pipeline PyRAF DRAGONS ↗ SAOImage DS9 SNID AstroDash
Tools
Jupyter VS Code LaTeX Obsidian Microsoft 365
Languages
English (Native) Arabic — Levantine & MSA (Full Professional)