In addition to his academic pursuits, Schaefer is remembered at MIT as the founder of the annual
MIT Mystery Hunt in 1981 during his graduate studies there. The tradition of the hunt continues today. His research interests include the use of
photometry of exploding objects to get results of interest for
physical cosmology. He has also researched the
dwarf planet Pluto with the aim of understanding the atmospheric variability of the system. Bradley has also studied
KIC 8462852, a star with unusual within-day light fluctuations of about 20 percent, and found that the century-long light (1890 to 1989) from the star faded by about 20 percent as well, adding to its unusual luminosity. In 2005, at a meeting of the
American Astronomical Society in
San Diego, California, Schaefer reported on a potential link between the long-lost
star catalog of Hipparchus and a
sculpture called
The Farnese Atlas, created in the 2nd century, and thus a potential source for antique astronomy. Hipparchus is considered to be one of the greatest
astronomers of ancient times, but most of his works are lost to
history. The Farnese Atlas depicts
Atlas, from
Greek mythology, bearing the weight of the
heavens upon his shoulders. The heavens are represented by a
globe showing the
constellations as seen from
Earth. By examining the positions of the constellations, Schaefer determined that they are accurately placed according to the positions they occupied at the time of Hipparchus. He concludes that Hipparchus's work may have been the reference for the
statue. He published this idea in the Journal for the History of Astronomy. Only a couple of months later, Dennis Duke published a counter-opinion proving Schaefer's hypothesis wrong. In 2017, Schaefer conducted the lecture series, "The Remarkable Science of Ancient Astronomy", an introductory course covering the history of astronomy, from about 5000 BC to 1600 AD on all inhabited continents. In 2010, Schaefer was awarded the LSU Distinguished Faculty Award as recognition of a sustained record of excellence in teaching and research. In 2012, for his teaching, Schaefer was named as the University Alumni Professor. == Awards ==