What is Exoplanet Watch?
Meet the Exoplanet Watch team
Education: BA in Astronomy from Cornell University, PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics from UC Santa Cruz
Occupation: Extreme Precision Radial Velocity Investigation Scientist at JPL
What do you do on Exoplanet Watch? “I’m helping to expand the capabilities of Exoplanet Watch’s pipeline to simultaneously fit both transit and radial velocity (RV) data. This allows us to measure both the radius (from transit data) and mass (from the RV data) of the planet, providing a more complete picture of what kind of world we’re detecting.”
Why do you work on Exoplanet Watch? “I enjoy introducing new people to both the wonders and complications that come from working with RV data, and view Exoplanet Watch as a great way to increase community engagement with exoplanet science!”
Education: B.Sc. Physics and Communications with minors in Math and Computer Science from Cal Poly Pomona
Occupation: Software Development and Engineering Specialist at Raytheon (JPL Contractor)
What do you do on Exoplanet Watch? “I work on architecture, programming and problem solving. My role is to take science intent and translate it to the nuts and bolts of a reliable software system. This involves everything from designing how different pieces integrate together to writing code to building out server functionality. I write Python code for things like distributing research results to Cloud-based systems, organizing data into computer-readable formats and parallelizing complex algorithms to make them run faster.”
Why do you work on Exoplanet Watch? “It's a personal goal to help better the world by helping science, and Exoplanet Watch is a great opportunity to participate in the leading edge of new astronomy research. Besides that, I'm enamored with Star Trek The Next Generation, and this is a great way to help get us there one day!”
Education: Junior Undergraduate at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, majoring in Computer Science
Occupation: Exoplanet Watch Intern at NASA JPL
What do you do on Exoplanet Watch? “I work on Exoplanet Watch's data reduction pipeline, EXOplanet Transit Interpretation Code (EXOTIC). Adding features to the reduction process and designing the user interface are some of my objectives regarding the pipeline. I also aid in searching for an affordable way to allow citizen scientists to gather data from transiting exoplanets.”
Why do you work on Exoplanet Watch? “It's incredible to partake in the expanding research field for exoplanets, driving me to learn something new every day. I also admire Exoplanet Watch's ability to bridge the gap between the professional environment and those of many different educational backgrounds.”
Education: recent Astrophysics graduate from Arizona State University
Occupation: Exoplanet Watch Intern at NASA JPL
What do you do on Exoplanet Watch? "I’ll be working on TESS data to bring it to CITISENS. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite is detecting thousands of exoplanet candidates, and Exoplanet Watch can help confirm which of these candidates are really exoplanets by having citizen scientists do follow up observations to confirm their existence."
Why do you work on Exoplanet Watch? "Ironically enough, I hated astronomy as a kid - the vastness of space is terrifying to me! However, in the end, my fear was trumped by my curiosity about worlds beyond our solar system. The big question that motivates my work on Exoplanet Watch is ‘How can we create a welcoming astrophysics community and open up the doors of astrophysics to everyone?’"
Education: BA in Chemistry from UC Berkeley
Occupation: Education Specialist at NASA JPL
What do you do on Exoplanet Watch? “I help manage and grow this amazing community of citizen scientists. I connect people, I educate, and I communicate."
Why do you work on Exoplanet Watch? “Because exoplanets are my personal passion! I started my career at NASA through working on Kepler mission education products almost twenty years ago, and after thousands of exoplanets have been discovered, it's wonderful that now anyone (yes, you!) can help to make discoveries about these distant worlds!”
Education: Ph.D. in Planetary Science
Occupation: Data Scientist at NASA JPL
What do you do on Exoplanet Watch? “I assist in the development and management of the Exoplanet Watch citizen science project, a collaboration between amateur astronomers, colleges, and universities, and professional astronomers to perform ephemerides maintenance on transiting exoplanets to ensure the efficient use of professional observatory time.”
Why do you work on Exoplanet Watch? “The existence of worlds beyond our own has been a subject of fascination and inspiration since I was younger and started because of Star Wars. We have the ability to observe these exoplanets from our own backyard and I want to teach people how.”
Education: BS in Geophysical Sciences from UChicago, PhD in Planetary Science from Univ. of Arizona - LPL
Occupation: Assistant Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State Univ.
What do you do on Exoplanet Watch? I created and teach and online research course for undergraduates that utilizes tools from Exoplanet Watch to update the ephemeris of a new target each semester. I also co-mentor several undergraduates alongside folks at Exoplanet Watch on projects spanning from ephemeris maintenance and ground-based observing to planetary detection.
Why do you work on Exoplanet Watch? I'm a big believer in the power of citizen science and how it can be used to make research accessible to a broad population of learners. It is a fun experience to realize all we can do with small, ground-based telescopes when it comes to making an impact on exoplanet research
Occupation: Optical Telescope Systems
What do you do on Exoplanet Watch? “I build and maintain control software/hardware observing systems for the 1.0m, 0.6m, 0.4m and “Gizmo” 6” telescope array at the Table Mountain Observatory. Using these systems I am observing exoplanet transits on most clear nights, analyzing and uploading into the AAVSO database.”
Why do you work on Exoplanet Watch? “In the more than 20 years I have been working at Table Mountain supporting astronomical campaigns, the Exoplanet Watch program has been the most fun and rewarding.”
Education: BS in Astronomy & Astrophysics (Villanova University); MSc in Space Science (University College London); PhD in Planetary Science (University of Arizona - Lunar & Planetary Laboratory)
Occupation: Exoplanet Astronomer at NASA JPL
What do you do on Exoplanet Watch? “I am the Project Lead and Project Scientist for Exoplanet Watch as well as a contributor to our data reduction software, EXOTIC, and our analysis pipeline, CITISENS.”
Why do you work on Exoplanet Watch? “I absolutely love sharing my work and research with the general public. I am excited to see the measurement precision capabilities of amateur astronomers and am delighted to help them support the science of transiting exoplanet missions and ground-based observatories.”
Former Team Members
Leah Albrow - Undergraduate Intern (University of Canterbury (New Zealand)) - Summer 2023
- EXOTIC software development
Nora Bailey - Public Engagement - 2022-23
- Helped launch Exoplanet Watch to a general public audience
Ethan Blaser - Undergraduate Intern (University of Virginia) - Summers 2018 and 2019
- EXOTIC software development
Alexandra Iturralde - Undergradute Intern (University of New Mexico) - Summer 2019
- Content creation and development
Kiah May - Undergraduate Intern (University of Colorado - Boulder) - Summer 2022 - Spring 2023
- EXOTIC software development
- Content creation and development
Tiana James - Undergraduate Intern (Howard University) - Fall 2020 - Summer 2021
- Website content creation
Jonah Rolfness - Undergraduate Intern (Caltech) - Summer 2021 - Spring 2022
- Exoplanet Watch telescope instructions
- EXOTIC software development
Marlee Smith - Undergraduate Intern (Cornell) - Summer 2020 - Spring 2021
- EXOTIC software development
Aaron Tran - Undergraduate Intern (Caltech) - Summer 2020
- EXOTIC software development
Rachel Zimmerman-Brachman - Public Engagement Lead - 2019-23
- Helped launch Exoplanet Watch to a general audience
- Contacted various astronomy groups, clubs, and programs
- Wrote monthly newsletters
- Wrote monthly status reports
Subscribe to the Exoplanet Watch Monthly Newsletter here:
