The People Behind JWST
The People Behind JWST
I was featured in an article about the people who support and use JWST. I was so excited to share more of my personal experience working with the data. Link to article here.
Another video that highlights some of my work and hopes for JWST are here in this TikTok posted by the SETI Institute. The interview was done by Franck Marchis.
More Posts from Infraredastronomy and Others
The Importance of Deuterium
Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen with one extra proton. The ratio of deuterium to hydrogen (D/H) is an indicator of mass in isolated substellar objects. Brown dwarfs that have more than 12 times the mass of Jupiter are theoretically warm enough to fuse deuterium, causing smaller atmospheric D/H ratios. In Solar System objects the D/H ratio can be altered by temperature, material transport, or atmospheric escape. In Rowland+ 2024 (accepted ApJL), we were able to detect deuterium for the first time outside of our solar system in WISE 0855, the coldest known brown dwarf.
The overall D/H ratio is inferred by detecting both deuterated methane (CH3D) and normal methane (CH4) in the atmosphere of WISE 0855. From the data we also estimate that WISE 0855 has two times more mass than Jupiter. Both the deueterium abundance and mass are consistent with theoretical expectations. Deuterium is not exclusive to gravitationally bound companions and can be used to infer mass in both brown dwarfs and exoplanets. I was super excited to be apart of this paper and also previous work demonstrating we could detect CH3D is most cold brown dwarfs.
Reflections
I'm mentoring an undergrad for the first time and I'm realizing more how much effort it takes to start someone on research from scratch. Its so different from how classes work there is really no script to it. We are working on studying Hubble observations of Jupiter from 2015 to now. At the moment most variability measurements of gas giant exoplanets or brown dwarfs are only over one or two rotation periods. We need to move from "weather" into long-term climate observations, which is possible with a small observatory in space. Using Jupiter and current brown dwarf data, we can estimate what sensitivity is needed.
I've been gaming a lot less lately. I reached Platinum 4 in League of Legends, which is much higher than my original goal this season. There is no point in practicing because the whole map will change in January. I also have some JWST Observations that got executed today and LBTI observations to plan for in December and January.
Reflections
The last time I posted here was almost 6 years ago.
The last time I was an avid user of tumblr was high school/early college, about a decade ago.
The social media site I have used the longest is twitter, but I dont find the same joy in that place anymore.
I wanted to get back to things sparked hopefulness, creativity, and curiosity.
A lot has changed on the internet and real life. I'm thankful to have reached three decades of life. I got my doctorate in Astronomy and Astrophysics last summer and started a postdoctoral position at the University of Arizona. Thanks to my fellowship I'll be able to transition into a tenure-track professor position. I'm learning how to mentor students on research projects and also try riskier projects of my own.
“Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope”
Reflections
I recently adopted a cat and have named him Lorenzo. At the shelter he was kind of a mean ass cat. Now that he lives as a solo cat I'm seeing a really soft side of him and it warms my heart. I also recently submitted an instrument concept for the Gemini Strategic Planning community input. Not entirely sure where that will go, but I'm proud that I put myself out there with my team.
Last week I attended the joint meeting of the National Society of Black Physicists and National Society of Hispanic Physicists in Houston, Texas. I enjoyed seeing friendly colleagues and meeting new researchers. It was an honor to give an invited talk in the astronomy session and I'm happy I could convey the importance of brown dwarfs to folks outside of my subfield.
The first photo is everyone from the University of Arizona (minus Carlos Vargas) who attended. Graduate students Jasmin Washington (Steward Observatory, center) and Kiana McFadden (Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, left) presented their work as well. I had fun walking around an exploring downtown Houston in the evenings. I absolutely adored the POST, which had an open plan plant store with a stage for jazz.
Top: Cathedral of St. Augustine
Bottom: Piece from Juan Obando and Yoshua Okón: DEMO
