About ME
I recently defended my Ph.D., working at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, searching for extrasolar planets orbiting pulsating stars. Stellar pulsations can be used as an acurate clock. Regular variations in the arrival time of those pulsations indicating that the star is moving back and forth, orbiting the center of mass of a system with one or more planets.
Of special interest are host stars of the subdwarf B (sdB) class. The existence of single sdB stars is not explainable by stellar evolution theory so far. Planets can help to form these kinds of stars if they survive the violent red giant phase of the star. Alternatively second generations planets could form from the inflated envelope of the star.
The timing method is particularly sensitive to planets at large distances and complementary to other exoplanet detection methods because they are not efficient for stars with small radii and high gravities. Thus, the timing method opens up a new parameter range in terms of the host stars and helps to understand the formation process of single sdBs. My work aims to establish this method as a complementary detection method to transits or radial velocity measurements. In consideration of future photometric space missions like PLATO it is essential to enhance the diversity of potential exoplanet host stars that can be probed.
Previously, I investigated the atmosphere of the transiting hot Jupiter TrES-3b using transmission spectroscopy at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam.
My passion for astronomy grew with a 8" Newtonian telescope. Besides that, I am an enthusiastic photographer, graphic designer and musician.
orcid.org/0000-0001-5136-6596