Excited to Announce I Accepted an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship at UT-Austin Starting in the Fall 2023

I was awarded an NSF AAPF starting in September of 2023 to explore star formation theory through observations of multiple systems in young star forming regions! Building off of work carried out in my thesis, I will characterize the companion populations within many varied star-forming environments using Gaia and large ground-based telescopes with high angular resolution. I am very excited for this new chapter in my life and academic career and could not have accomplished this without the support of my wife, family, and all those I worked with over the last six years.

My New Publication on the Search for Close Companions to the Y-dwarf WISE1828+2650 with JWST/NIRCam

Check out my new paper accepted by the Astrophysical Journal searching for close companions to WISE1828+2650. With the James Webb Space Telescope, the JWST NIRCam GTO team observed WISE1828+2650 with NIRCam and NIRISS with 7 different filters. With the F360M filter, we constructed empirical PSF models based on the other point sources in the field of view and performed a PSF-fitting routine to search for close companions. We find that a single PSF and a double PSF fit the data equally well (i.e. no evidence for a companion), while we define detection limits down to 50 milli-arcseconds (0.8 pixels in the long-wave channel) or 0.5 au at 10 pc. We fit spectral models to the photometry finding that both single and double object fits are equally poor models, and require further exploration with NIRSpec and MIRI spectroscopy to obtain an accurate model of the source’s atmosphere.

Two accepted papers in one week! See My New Publication Characterizing the Companion Population to M-stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster

Check out my new paper accepted by the Astrophysical Journal exploring the demographics of the companion population to M-stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). With the Hubble Space Telescope, we detected 44 companions (14 new) to M-stars in the ONC, finding no difference in the companion frequency relative to the field population, but a significant difference relative to Taurus-Auriga, demonstrating the effect of environment on the companion population. We also find tentative evidence for a universal mass ratio distribution, consistent across Taurus, the ONC, and the field.

My New Publication on the Small Separation Companion Population to A-stars in the Field

Check out my new paper that was accepted by the Astrophysical Journal where I explored the close (< 10 au) companion population to A-type stars in the Galactic Field. Using long-baseline interferometry at the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy Array, we detected five companions to 27 A-type stars within 80 pc, demonstrating the need for a larger survey (which we were awarded 4 nights in the summer to perform, more coming soon) as further investigation to fully characterize this companion population.

Awarded 7 Orbits on HST!

I am the PI of a Cycle 30 Hubble Space Telescope program to investigate the multiplicity of stars and brown dwarfs in NGC 1333, a very young star-forming region. We will be characterize the companion population to cluster members between 0.01 – 1.0 solar masses, and down to ~ 7 au given the results of past analyses (see De Furio et al. 2019, 2022 for more). This program will be well integrated with the JWST NIRISS GTO program (ID: 1202) to identify planetary mass objects in NGC 1333 and characterize the very low mass end of the IMF.

Cool Stars 21

I presented a poster at Cool Stars 21, summarizing the work completed in a series of papers investigating the companion population to low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in the Orion Nebula Cluster. De Furio et al. (2019, 2022) are already published with the third paper in the series submitted for review. Check back soon for an update!

See the poster here