My primary research interests are the detection and characterization of short-period (roughly 1-30 days) transiting brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs are objects that are more massive than giant planets and less massive than the smallest stars. They are effectively defined by a mass range (13 to 80 times the mass of Jupiter) and my research involves trying to determine whether or not those mass boundaries make sense. We may instead consider defining brown dwarfs based off of their formation mechanisms and not simply their mass. This involves the precise characterization of their mass and radius so that we may compare these properties to the values predicted by substellar models.
Night time star gazing events and star parties, night time telescope tours for the public