Parker J
- Research Program Mentor
PhD candidate at University of Arizona
Expertise
Observational Astrophysics, Computational Astrophysics, Exoplanets, High Contrast imaging, Stellar Nucleosynthesis
Bio
I recently received my bachelors degree at the University of North Dakota (UND) where I majored in Physics with emphasis in Astrophysics and Computational Physics, as well as minored in computer science and mathematics. The majority of my research at UND involved follow-up observations of transiting exoplanets and working towards making our observatory completely autonomous. However, I was involved in other projects as an undergrad such as developing a tabletop quantum photonics lab and optimizing performance of integration methods used to model astrophysical reacting flows. I am now in the Astrophysics Ph.D. program at the University of Arizona where I am working with a group on developing an instrument to directly image and characterize Earth-like exoplanets. When I am not in the classroom or conducting research, I enjoy almost anything active or outdoors. I spend most of my free time gardening, hiking, biking, running, swimming, lifting, hunting, fishing, and playing basketball, football, and pickleball. Anything that gets me outdoors or competing with my friends!Project ideas
Analysis of Stellar Evolution's Dependencies of Initial Parameters
Stellar evolution is the process by which a star changes over the course of its lifetime and how it can lead to the creation of a new star. An interested student could run stellar evolution simulations, varying initial parameters such as mass, composition, and metallicity with every run. The student would learn a broad range of topics from star formation and main sequence stars to the end states of stars and the impact stellar evolution has on the universe and humans!
Analysis of the Public TESS Data
TESS, Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, is a NASA mission that searches for planets around nearby stars. It discovers planets by observing the brightness of the star over time. When a planet orbits in front of the star, the brightness dips, indicating the detection of a planet. Luckily for us, all of the data from the mission is made public. A student would have the opportunity to analyze data from the mission to reveal known exoplanets. The student would also be able to characterize the planets they found to determine the physical properties (radius, semi-major axis, etc.).