![Subhajit Sarkar](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/3806?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Subhajit Sarkar
Lecturer
Astronomy Group
Astronomy Instrumentation Group
Cardiff Hub for Astrophysics Research and Technology
School of Physics and Astronomy
- SarkarS3@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 29225 14790
- Queen's Buildings - North Building, Room N/2.20, 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
I'm a university lecturer and astrophysicist working in the field of extra-solar planets. I am involved in the development of new missions and observatories to characterise the atmospheres of exoplanets, in particular the ESA Ariel mission, as well as Twinkle and the NASA EXCITE mission. I also am involved in cycle 1 and cycle 2 JWST exoplanet observations in collaboration with IoA Cambridge. I am interested in understanding atmospheric and planetary processes in temperate regime sub-Neptunes and gas giants, and how these relate to fundamental questions of planet formation and the diversity of the exoplanet population. I am also interested in astrobiology, particularly the potential for biospheres in temperate sub-Neptunes and gas giants, how we may be able to determine the frequency of life-bearing worlds (the fL factor in the Drake Equation) and how exoplanetary observations might be able to constrain theories of the origin of life.
Publication
2024
- Booth, L., Sarkar, S., Griffin, M. and Edwards, B. 2024. Cool gaseous exoplanets: surveying the new frontier with twinkle. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, article number: stae461. (10.1093/mnras/stae461)
2023
- Madhusudhan, N., Sarkar, S., Constantinou, S., Holmberg, M., Piette, A. A. A. and Moses, J. I. 2023. Carbon-bearing molecules in a possible Hycean atmosphere. Astrophysical Journal Letters 956(1), article number: L13. (10.3847/2041-8213/acf577)
- Edwards, B. et al. 2023. Characterizing a world within the hot-neptune desert: Transit observations of LTT 9779 b with the Hubble space telescope/WFC3. Astronomical Journal 166(4), article number: 158. (10.3847/1538-3881/acea77)
- Seidel, J. V., Nielsen, L. D. and Sarkar, S. 2023. JWST opens a window on exoplanet skies. Nature (10.1038/d41586-023-00394-6)
- Nikolaou, N. et al. 2023. Lessons learned from the 1st Ariel Machine Learning Challenge: Correcting transiting exoplanet light curves for stellar spots. RAS Techniques and Instruments 2(1), pp. 695-709. (10.1093/rasti/rzad050)
2022
- Rehm, T. et al. 2022. The design and development status of the cryogenic receiver for the EXoplanet Climate Infrared TELescope (EXCITE). Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 17-22 July 2022, Vol. 12184. Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers, (10.1117/12.2629588)
- Nagler, P. C. et al. 2022. The EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope (EXCITE). Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 17-22 July 2022, Vol. 12184. Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers, (10.1117/12.2629373)
- Bernard, L. et al. 2022. Design and testing of a low-resolution NIR spectrograph for the EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 17-22 July 2022, Vol. 12184. Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers, (10.1117/12.2629717)
- Bowles, N. E. et al. 2022. Ground calibration of the Ariel space telescope: optical ground support equipment design and description. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montreal, Canada, 17-23 July 2022Proceedings Volume 12180, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, Vol. 12180. SPIE, (10.1117/12.2627049)
- Stotesbury, I. et al. 2022. Twinkle: a small satellite spectroscopy mission for the next phase of exoplanet science. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 17-23 July 2022Proceedings Volume 12180, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave. , (10.1117/12.2641373)
- Morello, G., Danielski, C. and Sarkar, S. 2022. The Ariel 0.6 - 7.8 μm stellar limb-darkening coefficients. Experimental Astronomy 53, pp. 533-545. (10.1007/s10686-021-09740-w)
- Pearson, C. et al. 2022. The Ariel ground segment and instrument operations science data centre. Experimental Astronomy 53, pp. 773-806. (10.1007/s10686-020-09691-8)
- Danielski, C. et al. 2022. The homogeneous characterisation of Ariel host stars. Experimental Astronomy 53, pp. 473-510. (10.1007/s10686-021-09765-1)
- Sarkar, S. 2022. The DRAKE mission: finding the frequency of life in the Cosmos. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (10.1093/mnras/stac175)
2021
- Sarkar, S. and Madhusudhan, N. 2021. JexoSim 2.0: End-to-end JWST simulator for exoplanet spectroscopy - Implementation and case studies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 508(1), pp. 433-452. (10.1093/mnras/stab2472)
- Sarkar, S., Pascale, E., Papageorgiou, A., Johnson, L. J. and Waldmann, I. 2021. ExoSim: the exoplanet observation simulator. Experimental Astronomy 51, pp. 287-317. (10.1007/s10686-020-09690-9)
- Mugnai, L. V., Pascale, E., Edwards, B., Papageorgiou, A. and Sarkar, S. 2021. Performance simulations tools for Space Telescopes applied to Ariel space mission.. Presented at: European Planetary Science Congress 2021, Online, 13–24 Sep 2021EPSC Abstracts. Europlanet Society pp. EPSC2021-182., (10.5194/epsc2021-182)
2020
- Mugnai, L. V., Pascale, E., Edwards, B., Papageorgiou, A. and Sarkar, S. 2020. ArielRad: the Ariel radiometric model. Experimental Astronomy 50, pp. 303-328. (10.1007/s10686-020-09676-7)
- Tinetti, G. et al. 2020. Ariel: Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey - enabling planetary science across light-years. Definition study report. European Space Agency. Available at: https://sci.esa.int/web/ariel/-/ariel-definition-study-report-red-book
- Sarkar, S., Pascale, E., Papageorgiou, A., Johnson, L. J. and Waldmann, I. 2020. ExoSim: the exoplanet observation simulator. [Online]. arXiv. Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.03739
- Sarkar, S., Madhusudhan, N. and Papageorgiou, A. 2020. JexoSim: A time domain simulator of exoplanet transit spectroscopy with JWST. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 491(1), pp. 378-397. (10.1093/mnras/stz2958)
2019
- Nagler, P. C. et al. 2019. Observing exoplanets in the near-infrared from a high altitude balloon platform. Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation 8(3), article number: 1950011. (10.1142/S2251171719500119)
- Edwards, B., Mugnai, L., Tinetti, G., Pascale, E. and Sarkar, S. 2019. An updated study of potential targets for Ariel. Astronomical Journal 157(6), pp. 242. (10.3847/1538-3881/ab1cb9)
- Edwards, B. et al. 2019. Exoplanet spectroscopy and photometry with the Twinkle space telescope. Experimental Astronomy 47(1-2), pp. 29-63. (10.1007/s10686-018-9611-4)
2018
- Sarkar, S., Argyriou, I., Vandenbussche, B., Papageorgiou, A. and Pascale, E. 2018. Stellar pulsation and granulation as noise sources in exoplanet transit spectroscopy in the ARIEL space mission. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 481(3), pp. 2871-2877. (10.1093/mnras/sty2453)
- Zingales, T., Tinetti, G., Pillitteri, I., Leconte, J., Micela, G. and Sarkar, S. 2018. The ARIEL mission reference sample. Experimental Astronomy 46(1), pp. 67-100. (10.1007/s10686-018-9572-7)
- Tinetti, G. et al. 2018. A chemical survey of exoplanets with ARIEL. Experimental Astronomy 46(1), pp. 135-209. (10.1007/s10686-018-9598-x)
- Pascale, E. et al. 2018. The ARIEL space mission. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, TX, USA, 10-15 June 2018 Presented at Lystrup, M. et al. eds.Proceedings Volume 10698, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, Vol. 10698. Proceedings of SPIE Bellingham, Washington: Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), (10.1117/12.2311838)
- Savini, G. et al. 2018. TWINKLE: a low earth orbit visible and infrared exoplanet spectroscopy observatory. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2016, Edinburgh, Scotland, 26 June - 1 July 2016 Presented at MacEwen, H. A. et al. eds.Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, Vol. 9904. SPIE pp. 99044M., (10.1117/12.2233691)
2017
- Sarkar, S. 2017. Exoplanet transit spectroscopy: development and application of a generic time domain simulator. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
2016
- Tinetti, G. et al. 2016. The science of ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey). Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Edinburgh, UK, 26 June - 1 July 2016 Presented at MacEwen, H. A. et al. eds.Proceedings Volume 9904, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, Vol. 9904. The International Society for Optical Engineering pp. 99041X., (10.1117/12.2232370)
- Sarkar, S., Papageorgiou, A. and Pascale, E. 2016. Exploring the potential of the ExoSim simulator for transit spectroscopy noise estimation. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Edinburgh, UK, 26 June - 1 July 2016 Presented at MacEwen, H. A. et al. eds.Proceedings Volume 9904, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, Vol. 99043R. Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), (10.1117/12.2234216)
2015
- Pascale, E. et al. 2015. EChOSim: The Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory software simulator. Experimental Astronomy, pp. 1-19. (10.1007/s10686-015-9471-0)
2006
- Dalmarco, G. et al. 2006. Evaluation of external cardiac massage performance during hypogravity simulation. Presented at: International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, New York, US, 30 Aug-3 Sep 20062006 International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE pp. 2904., (10.1109/IEMBS.2006.259444)
2005
- Sarkar, S., Bacal, K., Sriram, M. G., Stokes, C. R., Hurst, V. W., Johnson-Throop, K. A. and Hamilton, D. R. 2005. ISIS: The ISS Systematic Initial Survey - a new approach to guiding medical care on orbit. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 76(3), pp. 74.
2004
- Sarkar, S. 2004. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in lunar and Martian gravity fields. Presented at: AsMA 75th Annual Scientific Meeting, Anchorage, AK, USA, 2-6 May 2004. pp. -.
Articles
- Booth, L., Sarkar, S., Griffin, M. and Edwards, B. 2024. Cool gaseous exoplanets: surveying the new frontier with twinkle. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, article number: stae461. (10.1093/mnras/stae461)
- Madhusudhan, N., Sarkar, S., Constantinou, S., Holmberg, M., Piette, A. A. A. and Moses, J. I. 2023. Carbon-bearing molecules in a possible Hycean atmosphere. Astrophysical Journal Letters 956(1), article number: L13. (10.3847/2041-8213/acf577)
- Edwards, B. et al. 2023. Characterizing a world within the hot-neptune desert: Transit observations of LTT 9779 b with the Hubble space telescope/WFC3. Astronomical Journal 166(4), article number: 158. (10.3847/1538-3881/acea77)
- Seidel, J. V., Nielsen, L. D. and Sarkar, S. 2023. JWST opens a window on exoplanet skies. Nature (10.1038/d41586-023-00394-6)
- Nikolaou, N. et al. 2023. Lessons learned from the 1st Ariel Machine Learning Challenge: Correcting transiting exoplanet light curves for stellar spots. RAS Techniques and Instruments 2(1), pp. 695-709. (10.1093/rasti/rzad050)
- Morello, G., Danielski, C. and Sarkar, S. 2022. The Ariel 0.6 - 7.8 μm stellar limb-darkening coefficients. Experimental Astronomy 53, pp. 533-545. (10.1007/s10686-021-09740-w)
- Pearson, C. et al. 2022. The Ariel ground segment and instrument operations science data centre. Experimental Astronomy 53, pp. 773-806. (10.1007/s10686-020-09691-8)
- Danielski, C. et al. 2022. The homogeneous characterisation of Ariel host stars. Experimental Astronomy 53, pp. 473-510. (10.1007/s10686-021-09765-1)
- Sarkar, S. 2022. The DRAKE mission: finding the frequency of life in the Cosmos. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (10.1093/mnras/stac175)
- Sarkar, S. and Madhusudhan, N. 2021. JexoSim 2.0: End-to-end JWST simulator for exoplanet spectroscopy - Implementation and case studies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 508(1), pp. 433-452. (10.1093/mnras/stab2472)
- Sarkar, S., Pascale, E., Papageorgiou, A., Johnson, L. J. and Waldmann, I. 2021. ExoSim: the exoplanet observation simulator. Experimental Astronomy 51, pp. 287-317. (10.1007/s10686-020-09690-9)
- Mugnai, L. V., Pascale, E., Edwards, B., Papageorgiou, A. and Sarkar, S. 2020. ArielRad: the Ariel radiometric model. Experimental Astronomy 50, pp. 303-328. (10.1007/s10686-020-09676-7)
- Sarkar, S., Madhusudhan, N. and Papageorgiou, A. 2020. JexoSim: A time domain simulator of exoplanet transit spectroscopy with JWST. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 491(1), pp. 378-397. (10.1093/mnras/stz2958)
- Nagler, P. C. et al. 2019. Observing exoplanets in the near-infrared from a high altitude balloon platform. Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation 8(3), article number: 1950011. (10.1142/S2251171719500119)
- Edwards, B., Mugnai, L., Tinetti, G., Pascale, E. and Sarkar, S. 2019. An updated study of potential targets for Ariel. Astronomical Journal 157(6), pp. 242. (10.3847/1538-3881/ab1cb9)
- Edwards, B. et al. 2019. Exoplanet spectroscopy and photometry with the Twinkle space telescope. Experimental Astronomy 47(1-2), pp. 29-63. (10.1007/s10686-018-9611-4)
- Sarkar, S., Argyriou, I., Vandenbussche, B., Papageorgiou, A. and Pascale, E. 2018. Stellar pulsation and granulation as noise sources in exoplanet transit spectroscopy in the ARIEL space mission. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 481(3), pp. 2871-2877. (10.1093/mnras/sty2453)
- Zingales, T., Tinetti, G., Pillitteri, I., Leconte, J., Micela, G. and Sarkar, S. 2018. The ARIEL mission reference sample. Experimental Astronomy 46(1), pp. 67-100. (10.1007/s10686-018-9572-7)
- Tinetti, G. et al. 2018. A chemical survey of exoplanets with ARIEL. Experimental Astronomy 46(1), pp. 135-209. (10.1007/s10686-018-9598-x)
- Pascale, E. et al. 2015. EChOSim: The Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory software simulator. Experimental Astronomy, pp. 1-19. (10.1007/s10686-015-9471-0)
- Sarkar, S., Bacal, K., Sriram, M. G., Stokes, C. R., Hurst, V. W., Johnson-Throop, K. A. and Hamilton, D. R. 2005. ISIS: The ISS Systematic Initial Survey - a new approach to guiding medical care on orbit. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 76(3), pp. 74.
Conferences
- Rehm, T. et al. 2022. The design and development status of the cryogenic receiver for the EXoplanet Climate Infrared TELescope (EXCITE). Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 17-22 July 2022, Vol. 12184. Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers, (10.1117/12.2629588)
- Nagler, P. C. et al. 2022. The EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope (EXCITE). Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 17-22 July 2022, Vol. 12184. Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers, (10.1117/12.2629373)
- Bernard, L. et al. 2022. Design and testing of a low-resolution NIR spectrograph for the EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 17-22 July 2022, Vol. 12184. Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers, (10.1117/12.2629717)
- Bowles, N. E. et al. 2022. Ground calibration of the Ariel space telescope: optical ground support equipment design and description. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montreal, Canada, 17-23 July 2022Proceedings Volume 12180, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, Vol. 12180. SPIE, (10.1117/12.2627049)
- Stotesbury, I. et al. 2022. Twinkle: a small satellite spectroscopy mission for the next phase of exoplanet science. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 17-23 July 2022Proceedings Volume 12180, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave. , (10.1117/12.2641373)
- Mugnai, L. V., Pascale, E., Edwards, B., Papageorgiou, A. and Sarkar, S. 2021. Performance simulations tools for Space Telescopes applied to Ariel space mission.. Presented at: European Planetary Science Congress 2021, Online, 13–24 Sep 2021EPSC Abstracts. Europlanet Society pp. EPSC2021-182., (10.5194/epsc2021-182)
- Pascale, E. et al. 2018. The ARIEL space mission. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, TX, USA, 10-15 June 2018 Presented at Lystrup, M. et al. eds.Proceedings Volume 10698, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, Vol. 10698. Proceedings of SPIE Bellingham, Washington: Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), (10.1117/12.2311838)
- Savini, G. et al. 2018. TWINKLE: a low earth orbit visible and infrared exoplanet spectroscopy observatory. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2016, Edinburgh, Scotland, 26 June - 1 July 2016 Presented at MacEwen, H. A. et al. eds.Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, Vol. 9904. SPIE pp. 99044M., (10.1117/12.2233691)
- Tinetti, G. et al. 2016. The science of ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey). Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Edinburgh, UK, 26 June - 1 July 2016 Presented at MacEwen, H. A. et al. eds.Proceedings Volume 9904, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, Vol. 9904. The International Society for Optical Engineering pp. 99041X., (10.1117/12.2232370)
- Sarkar, S., Papageorgiou, A. and Pascale, E. 2016. Exploring the potential of the ExoSim simulator for transit spectroscopy noise estimation. Presented at: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Edinburgh, UK, 26 June - 1 July 2016 Presented at MacEwen, H. A. et al. eds.Proceedings Volume 9904, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, Vol. 99043R. Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), (10.1117/12.2234216)
- Dalmarco, G. et al. 2006. Evaluation of external cardiac massage performance during hypogravity simulation. Presented at: International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, New York, US, 30 Aug-3 Sep 20062006 International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE pp. 2904., (10.1109/IEMBS.2006.259444)
- Sarkar, S. 2004. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in lunar and Martian gravity fields. Presented at: AsMA 75th Annual Scientific Meeting, Anchorage, AK, USA, 2-6 May 2004. pp. -.
Monographs
- Tinetti, G. et al. 2020. Ariel: Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey - enabling planetary science across light-years. Definition study report. European Space Agency. Available at: https://sci.esa.int/web/ariel/-/ariel-definition-study-report-red-book
Thesis
- Sarkar, S. 2017. Exoplanet transit spectroscopy: development and application of a generic time domain simulator. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
Websites
- Sarkar, S., Pascale, E., Papageorgiou, A., Johnson, L. J. and Waldmann, I. 2020. ExoSim: the exoplanet observation simulator. [Online]. arXiv. Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.03739
Research
Research focus
- Development of new exoplanet observatories and missions
- Ariel: first large-scale spectroscopic survey of exoplanet atmospheres.
- I developed original versions of ExoSim/ArielSim observation simulator and Ariel Data Reduction Pipeline (ADaRP). I lead the Simulations Working Group and am involved in a number of other ground segment and science working groups. I am involved in the development of the Ariel data pipeline. I am Co-I on the UKSA Cardiff Ariel grant.
- EXCITE: first dedicated exoplanet phase-curve spectroscopy observatory and first balloon-borne exoplanet observatory
- NASA collaborator/co-investigator
- Twinkle: innovative UK-led space telescope for exoplanet spectroscopy
- Developed TwinkleSim simulator and contributed to performance estimations. Now a member of the Twinkle Science Team helping to shape the mission goals and science.
- Ariel: first large-scale spectroscopic survey of exoplanet atmospheres.
- Exoplanet atmospheric spectroscopy
- Sub-Neptunes:
- Co-I on JWST Cycle 1 GO program 2722:
'Chemical Disequilibrium in a Temperate sub-Neptune'. Approx. 20 hours. We use NIRISS, NIRSpec and MIRI to obtain the transmission spectrum of the sub-Neptune K2-18 b from 0.6 to 12 microns.
- Co-I on JWST Cycle 2 GO program 3557:
'A JWST Search for Missing Methane'. Approx. 70 hours. We will use NIRISS, NIRSpec and MIRI to obtain transmission spectra for 4 sub-Neptune/Neptune-sized planets.
- Co-I on JWST Cycle 1 GO program 2722:
- Temperate gas giants (with Luke Booth):
- Developing modeling and observational approaches to characterise this poorly-understood exoplanet population.
- Lead the Cool Gas Giant working group for Twinkle and shaping the target list to perform first ever spectroscopic survey of cool gas giants.
- Hot Jupiters:
- Developed JexoPipe pipeline for JWST and applied this to hot Jupiter spectra.
- Sub-Neptunes:
- Astrobiology
- DRAKE (Dedicated Research for Advancing Knowledge of Exobiology): a proposed space mission to find the frequency of life in the Galaxy using transit spectroscopy (see paper in MNRAS).
- Biospheres in temperate sub-Neptunes and gas giants
Software developed
- ExoSim, ExoSim_N, JexoSim (JWST simulator), TwinkleSim, ADaRP, JexoPipe
Teaching
Current undergraduate teaching
- PX4245 / PXT145 Exoplanets and the Search for Life: Module Organiser
- PX2140 Stars and Planets: Deputy Module Organiser
Previous undergraduate teaching
- PX1127 Planet Earth: Module Organiser
- PX2140 Stars and Planets: guest lecturer
- PX1127 Planet Earth: Deputy Module Organiser
- PX2134 Structured Programming: Lab supervisor
- PX1125 Mathematical Practice for Physical Sciences: Marker
- PX1222 Mathematical Methods for Physicists 2: Marker
Other
- I supervise PhD, MPhys, MSc and BSc research projects (see supervision page)
Biography
Education
- PhD, Astrophysics, Cardiff University
- MSc (Distinction), Space Science, University College London
- Diploma in Physics (Distinction), Open University
- MA, Natural Sciences, Cambridge University
- MB, BChir, Medicine, Cambridge University
- Grad. Cert. Applied Sciences, Space Studies, University of South Australia
- Space Studies Program, International Space University
Professional memberships
- Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Academic positions
- 2022- Present: Lecturer in Exoplanet Characterisation, School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University
- 2017-2021: Post-doctoral Research Associate, Cardiff University
- 2013-2017: Post-graduate Research Student, Cardiff University
- 2003-2005: Visiting Researcher, Space Medicine & Health Care Systems Office, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston.
- 2003-2005: Honorary Lecturer in Space Life Sciences, Dept. of Space & Climate Physics, University College London
Outreach and Media
- BBC Radio Wales Science Cafe interview about the ARIEL space mission (April 2018).
- Pythagorean Astronomy podcast interview about TESS, ARIEL and other exoplanet missions (April 2018).
- Exoplanet talks for Cardiff AS Level Summer Programmes 2018/19.
- Stargazing talk and telescope observing with Scouts (Spring 2019).
- Online astronomy talk with Scouts (Winter 2020).
- 'All About Space' magazine interview about Ariel mission ('Rise of the Exoplanet Hunter') (Jan 2021).
- Twinkle mission YouTube video ('The Founding Members') (Aug 2021).
- Pythagorean Astronomy podcast interview about JWST observing programme (Dec 2021).
- Cardiff School of Physics & Astronomy YouTube video about JWST (Dec 2021).
- BBC News Wales interview about exoplanets and JWST (July 2022).
- Nature News and Views article on JWST (Feb 2023).
- NASA/ESA Press release on JWST K2-18 b observation (Sep 2023)
- BBC News interview ('Alien life in the Universe') (Sep 2023)
- K2-18 b international interviews including: Le Parisien, Hindustan Times, News9Live (India), Kosmo magazine (Italy) (Sep/Oct 2023)
- IoP Festival of Physics, keynote speaker ('Exoplanets and the Search for Life') (Nov 2023)
- Astronomy on Tap (Cardiff) speaker (Nov 2023)
Committees and reviewing
- I am the post-graduate admissions tutor for the Astronomy Group.
- I currently serve on the following school committees: a) Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), b) Environment and sustainability.
- I am on the CHART-GEI Schools Engagement Project management team and the Astronomy Instrumentation Group management team.
- I have previously served on the Ethics committee and MSc approval panel.
- JWST TAC panel member for cycle 3
- I have refereed publications for journals including MNRAS, PASP and Nature.
Supervisions
Current supervision
- I am primary PhD supervisor for Luke Booth who is researching exoplanet atmospheres.
- I am currently on the supervisory team as mentor for two PhD students.
- I currently supervise the undergraduate projects "Missions to the planets" and "Exoplanet transmission spectroscopy"
Current supervision
Past projects
- Previous undergraduate and MSc projects include: "Habitable exomoons", "Transmission spectroscopy of water", "Designing a telescope to observe Earth-like planet atmosphere", "Simulations for the Twinkle space mission", "Impact of star spots on exoplanet transmission spectroscopy"
Research themes
Specialisms
- Exoplanets
- Astrobiology
