Exoplanets - NASA High-Resolution Speckle Imaging Program

About the role

The NASA Fellowship Postdoctoral program (NPP) seeks a Postdoc / Research Scientist for the NASA Ames exoplanet speckle imaging group. This position involves performing software analysis to determine instrumental/observational metrics, revising and maintaining documentation on speckle observations and data reduction, supporting outreach efforts, and developing a research program.

Responsibilities

• Perform software analysis to determine instrumental/observational metrics such as S/N, contrast limits, etc.
• Revise and maintain documentation on the preparation of speckle observations and the reduction of data.
• Support the project in the design and implementation of outreach, including a webpage, to increase awareness about the use of speckle data.
• Help the NASA exoplanet community make use of these assets, participate in observing programs at various telescopes, and write and submit scientific papers related to this position.
• Develop your own (25%) research program.

Requirements

• A Ph.D. degree in astronomy, physics, or a related field.
• At least one year of experience at a scientific or research organization.
• At least one year of experience in observational astronomy.
• Experience in scientific computation with knowledge in one or more of C, Tcl, GTK, IDL, Python, and/or other common scientific computational software platforms.
• Experience with high-resolution imaging, and/or binary stars, and/or exoplanet research.

Qualifications

• Outstanding oral and written communication skills.
• A record of independent research and contributions to publications.
• Ability to work well with others on a team.

Skills

• Scientific computation
• High-resolution imaging
• Binary stars
• Exoplanet research

Benefits

• Initial fellowship for two years with the possibility of extension for a third.
• Location: NASA’s Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, CA.

Pay

• Commensurate with experience.

Schedule

• Full-time.

Field of Science

• Astrophysics.

Advisors

• Steve Howell
• Email: steve.b.howell@nasa.gov
• Phone: (650) 604-4238

Eligibility

• U.S. Citizens;
• U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR);
• Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status;
• Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with 1) a valid EAD card and 2) I-485 or I-589 forms in pending status.

Contact

Questions about this opportunity? Please email npp@orau.org