my research
I study exoplanets that orbit late-type M dwarfs, typically with effective temperatures < 3400K. The goal of my research is to determine occurrence rates of exoplanets around these stars; I aim to do this by determining where our detection limits lie for photometric data, in order to assess our sensitivity to detecting planets and thus correct occurrence rates as well as inform follow-up observation efforts. The SPECULOOS telescopes in Paranal, Teide and Mexico offer a chance to obtain ground-based follow-up photometric data in addition to space-based data from e.g. TESS. The advantage of these telescopes is that they obtain better precision for cool M dwarfs compared to the NASA TESS Space Telescope, allowing us to probe a parameter space of planets with smaller radii. We can therefore push down our detection limit compared to TESS, and increase our sensitivity to potentially detecting Earth-sized, habitable zone planets around nearby M dwarfs. Complimentary to this, I am also studying temperate planets around nearby, late-type M dwarfs with the SPECULOOS network. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to hear more about my work!
