Milton student’s passion for astronomy fuels research, outreach and a quasar discovery

By: Laura Steiner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Milton Reporter

Humanity is fascinated by the mysteries of the universe. Astrophysics is the field of study where astronomers use physics to explain them. Students are expected to learn how to break down and logically solve problems. The first two years include courses in math, physics, astronomy, and computer programming.

Twenty-two-year-old Matteo Statti was in kindergarten when Pluto lost its status as a planet. He didn’t engage much with astronomy until high school, when he attended a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program in Grade 8. Matteo is neurodivergent, and obsession can be a feature of that, depending on where someone falls on the spectrum.

“It’s a passion and an obsession,” said Kitsa, describing Matteo’s interest in astronomy. She first noticed it when he attended a week-long experimental physics camp at York University. One summer, he worked at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, helping scientists collect data for a paper. The opportunity came after a phone conversation with a friend, who told her about an interview with Anderson Cooper discussing opportunities for autistic students.

Matteo’s path has taken him into the post-secondary system, where the challenge became advocating for enough resources to support him.

“The support you need is not always there,” Kitsa said.

Matteo advises other students to be persistent. “If you really want to get into something, you just have to push through. Get volunteer experiences,” he said. He started with an internship right away.

York University’s recent discoveries have ranged from distant galaxies, as part of a history-making effort, to what magma was like when the world was still forming. Kitsa advises parents to encourage their children’s interests. “Go with the obsession—because that could become their career,” she said.

Matteo is now in his fourth year at York University, where he’s been studying quasars—a phenomenon in which black holes emit beams of energy into space. His discovery of a quasar will take him to South Korea, where he’ll work with a professor on a paper for a scientific journal. According to the data they’ve collected, the energy from the quasar he found appears to be stationary. They’ll be verifying the data and locating the quasar’s central point.

“The goal in astronomy and physics is to get papers published,” Matteo said. It reassures Kitsa to know he has spoken with the South Korean professor he’ll be working with.

One of Matteo’s interests is in telescopes. It began during the COVID-19 pandemic when he bought his first telescope—a memory that has stayed with Kitsa.

“He used the telescope to get certificates from the Royal Astronomical Society,” she said.

In 2023, he earned 16 certificates, including “Exploring the Moon” and “Exploring the Universe.” Since then, he has rebuilt an antique telescope and was invited by the Antique Telescope Society to give a talk about it in Italy—his first overseas trip.

“After being around those people, I started having my own interest in doing the same thing,” he said.

He must complete a course on safety through the university. Kitsa helps with travel arrangements, but Matteo travels on his own. Later this summer, they’re planning a visit together to the Astronomical Lyceum in Magdalena, New Mexico.

Matteo also enjoys doing outreach with others interested in astronomy. He attends “star parties,” where people bring telescopes and allow others to look through them and ask questions. He’s helping someone in Guelph 3D-print parts for a telescope. He also does “planet art,” layering spray paint to create images of planets based on his astrophotography. He recently sold some of his artwork at a picnic held by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and has been given permission to sell at York University’s Open Air Science Fair—an event hosted at the Allan I. Carswell Astronomical Observatory (AICAO) at the Keele campus, scheduled for one night between June 24 and July 4, 2025.

Matteo hopes to eventually work with instruments, especially telescopes—a collection of which is already on display in his family’s basement.

“I’m still trying to figure out the exact job I want,” he said.

He hopes it will involve telescopes and other instruments. Among his side projects are refurbishing a vacuum coater from the 1960s, used for mirror coating, and building a telescope with a 16-inch diameter.