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
Talks
- 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.