PhD at ESO: Proplyds
Topic: Constraining external photoevaporative winds of proplyds with high-resolution integral field spectroscopy
PI: Dr. Carlo F. Manara | ERC-funded WANDA team
(Winds ANd Disk structures near and Afar)
Start: September 2022
PI: Dr. Carlo F. Manara | ERC-funded WANDA team
(Winds ANd Disk structures near and Afar)
Start: September 2022
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I research irradiated protoplanetary disks with the aim to disentangle the effects of internal and external photoevaporation.
To provide background for this topic, a formation of a new star leaves behind gaseous dusty matter, which surrounds the newly born star in the form of a disk. These disks are the birthplaces of new planets, eventually forming a planetary system. When those protoplanetary disks are exposed to strong ultraviolet radiation of massive stars, it gives rise to external photoevaporation: a comet-like tail surrounds the disk as its material is dissipating. Such photoevaporated objects were the first protoplanetary disks to be discovered, imaged with the Hubble Space telescope in 1990s, and called proplyds (PROtoPlanetarY Disks). External photoevaporation plays a significant role in decreasing disk sizes and shortening the timescale available to form planets. Internal photoevaporation, on the other hand, is driven by the central host star and causes an inside-out depletion of the disk. I use Adaptive Optics-assisted integral field observations of VLT/MUSE in Narrow Field Mode to study proplyds in the Orion Nebula Cluster. MUSE takes thousands of images at different wavelengths at the same time, which allows us to study a wealth of (forbidden) emission lines in these systems. See also
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The UV radiation emitted by massive stars heats the surface of protoplanetary disks, which can be observed as glowing cusps and comet-like tails surrounding the disks. Our 2024 study investigates the effect on 12 proplyds in the Orion Nebula Cluster with VLT/MUSE observations. Image: Mari-Liis Aru et al. 2024 (Background credit: NASA, ESA, Massimo Robberto and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team)
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Talks
- Contributed conference talk, "A decade of discoveries with MUSE and beyond", ESO Garching, Germany. Nov. 2024.
- Invited seminar at the Origins Seminar Series (university of Arizona), virtual. Nov. 2024. Recorded.
- Seminar (W&C), ESO Garching, Germany. Sept. 2024.
- Tartu Observatory Astronomy Seminar (virtual). Aug. 2024.
- Contributed conference talk: New Heights in Planet Formation, ESO Garching, Germany. July 2024.
- ERC workshop on Disk & Planet formation, Varenna, Italy. June 2024.
- Seminar at the planet formation group of Queen Mary University of London, UK. Nov. 2023.
- Seminar at the exoplanet group, Imperial College London, UK. Nov. 2023.
- Seminar at the University College London, UK. Oct. 2023.
- External Photoevaporation workshop, Milan, Italy. June 2023.
- Breakfast Seminar at ESA-ESTEC, the Netherlands. June 2023.
- Contributed conference talk: National meeting STRADE-YODA, Naples, Italy. March 2023.
European Space Agency (ESA): Micrometeoroids
I worked as a researcher in the Gaia mission team, guided by astrometry expert Dr. Jos de Bruijne in 2019–2021. I analyzed micrometeoroid impacts on the Gaia spacecraft and modeled the physical properties of the impactors. The project also involved the detection of anomalies in time series; for this purpose, I experimented with a number of algorithms, including machine learning. The goal of this project was to pin down the micrometeoroid flux at the Lagrange-2 point. The results are in preparation to be published.
Master in Space Sciences: Exoplanets
In this project, I estimated the capability of the Extremely Large Telescope’s (ELT) Mid-infrared Imager and Spectrograph (METIS) to characterize exoplanets. I simulated a representative population of planets, their astrometric signature and parameters for direct imaging, that could be detected within Gaia’s astrometric precision. My main working tool was Python.
Bachelor of Science in Physics: Stellar Physics
I analyzed changes in the emission line of a Yellow Hypergiant, HR 8752 [N II] at 6583 Å.
This project involved reducing 20 years of HR 8752's spectral data with the software IRAF, and analyzing the star’s behavior based on its [N II] emission line's equivalent width. The data reduction routine involved using a comparison lamp’s spectrum, and zero and flat-field exposures. In a separate internship, I learned to operate a 1.5m telescope (Cassegrain reflector), and carried out new observations of the yellow hypergiant.
This project involved reducing 20 years of HR 8752's spectral data with the software IRAF, and analyzing the star’s behavior based on its [N II] emission line's equivalent width. The data reduction routine involved using a comparison lamp’s spectrum, and zero and flat-field exposures. In a separate internship, I learned to operate a 1.5m telescope (Cassegrain reflector), and carried out new observations of the yellow hypergiant.