Direct Imaging of Circumstellar Disks & Exoplanets

About the role

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA’s missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology.

Responsibilities

We are conducting observational research on circumstellar disks with the goals of imaging new systems; understanding their structure, dust properties, and evolution via multiwavelength observations; and searching for associated planets. Recent imaging data from the Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, combined with infrared spectral energy distributions from the Spitzer Space Telescope and Herschel Space Observatory, are compared with numerical models to derive disk properties. Supporting data is obtained with large ground-based telescopes such as Keck and Palomar.

• Supporting data is obtained with large ground-based telescopes such as Keck and Palomar.
• Working with the Roman Coronagraph Community Participation team, we are modeling the likely size and brightness of never-before-imaged debris disks around bright stars.
• The goal of this work is to support target selection for community surveys of warm debris disks and exozodical dust with the Roman Coronagraph, followed by development of observing sequences for execution during the first few years of the mission.
• Additional related research is being conducted on performance goals and technology issues for the future Habitable Worlds Observatory, and updates & improvements to the website https://circumstellardisks.org.

Requirements

Candidates with interests in protoplanetary and debris disks, exoplanet direct imaging, or high contrast observation techniques are encouraged to apply.

Qualifications

• A Doctoral Degree.

Skills

Experience in observational astronomy, particularly in the study of circumstellar disks, exoplanet direct imaging, or high contrast observation techniques.

Benefits

Dynamic environment for exoplanet research with NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program Office, JPL's Exoplanet Discovery and Science research group, the Roman Coronagraph Instrument team, access to the Palomar 5m telescope, and collaborations with local exoplanet researchers at the Caltech Astronomy Department and the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute.

Pay

N/A

Schedule

N/A

Location

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

Contact Information

JPL has a dynamic environment for exoplanet research with NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program Office, JPL's Exoplanet Discovery and Science research group, the Roman Coronagraph Instrument team, access to the Palomar 5m telescope, and collaborations with local exoplanet researchers at the Caltech Astronomy Department and the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. Candidates with interests in protoplanetary and debris disks, exoplanet direct imaging, or high contrast observation techniques are encouraged to apply.

Point of Contact

Mikeala