Exoplanets

To know a planet, you have to know its star. A planet's measured radius, mass, and irradiation are all inferred relative to the host star, so the precision of exoplanet science is fundamentally limited by how well we characterise stars. This is where my work on stellar astrophysics connects directly to planets.

I use detailed stellar characterisation — chemical abundances, fundamental parameters, evolutionary states — to sharpen what we can say about the planets that orbit those stars, and about the populations of planets as a whole. Stellar chemistry also offers clues about planet formation itself: the composition of a star reflects the material its planets were built from, and signatures of planet formation (or engulfment) may be written into stellar atmospheres.

Questions I'm drawn to:

• How do uncertainties in stellar parameters propagate into exoplanet properties and demographics?
• Does a star's detailed chemical composition correlate with the planets it hosts?
• Can we find chemical signatures of planet formation or engulfment in the host stars themselves?