David Ciardi

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David Robert Ciardi
David Ciardi at 2009 Kepler Launch.jpg
Ciardi at 2009 Kepler Launch
Born (1969-07-17) 17 July 1969 (age 55)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater University of Wyoming, Boston University
Known for Exoplanet science, infrared instrumentation and observations
Scientific career
Fields Astrophysics
Institutions Caltech, University of Florida
Thesis Star Formation in the Filamentary Dark Cloud GF-9: a Multi-Wavelength Intra-Cloud Comparative Study  (1997)
Doctoral advisor Charles E. (Chick) Woodward

David Robert Ciardi (born 17 July 1969) is an American astronomer. He received a bachelor's degree in physics and astronomy from Boston University in 1991, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wyoming in 1997.

Contents

Career

Ciardi has published refereed journal articles across a wide range of topics, including exoplanets, [1] [2] [3] [4] star formation, [5] interstellar dust, [6] molecular clouds, [7] and evolved stars. [8] [9] His observations of Vega using long-baseline interferometry with the Palomar Testbed Interferometer were the first to spatially resolve the debris disk around this star and to show that dust was present within 1 AU of the star - akin to the interplanetary dust in the Solar System that produces the zodiacal light. [10] This work led to the discovery of dust in the inner regions around other stars and leading to the discovery of a gap between the inner dust ring and the outer dust ring in many systems - the existence of which is still not understood. [11] Ciardi is a member of the Kepler Science Team and using data from the Kepler space telescope mission, Ciardi has published landmark works on the fundamental nature of stellar variability [12] and the relative sizes of planets in multi-planet systems [1] and has contributed to more than 250 exoplanet discovery papers, including many of the Kepler Mission discoveries and being the principal investigator of the Palomar Transient Factory Orion Transit Survey [13] and co-discoverer of the first transiting planet around a newly formed T Tauri star in the 3-million-year-old star cluster surrounding 25 Orionis. [2]

Ciardi completed his PhD at the University of Wyoming in 1997, and remained in Laramie for another year as a post-doctoral fellow. He left Wyoming to become a post-doc at the University of Florida, ostensibly to work on the Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) mission. The unfortunate failure of WIRE's main telescope immediately following launch sidetracked that research path; however, Ciardi remained at Florida and became a staff member with the infrared instrumentation group where he worked on an array of infrared instruments, including T-ReCS for the 8m telescope Gemini South and CanariCam for the 10m Gran Telescopio Canarias. In 2002, Ciardi took a staff astronomer position at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute; he served as the NExScI Chief Scientist from 2017-204 and is currently the NExScI Deputy Director and is a Member of the Professional Staff at Caltech.

Awards and honors

In 2016, Ciardi was awarded the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for his work on Kepler and his contributions to the confirmation of Kepler's exoplanets which have led to the characterization of planets ranging in size from Jupiters to Earths. The NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal is awarded to individuals for unusually significant scientific contributions toward achievement of aeronautical or space exploration goals. Asteroid 26312 Ciardi was named in his honor. [14] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 May 2019 ( M.P.C. 114954). [15] In September 2019, Ciardi, as part of the TESS team, was awarded the NASA Silver Achievement Medal.

Academic lineage

The following is the historic path of Ciardi's advisors - otherwise known as his academic lineage - spanning two centuries of scientific achievement.

ScientistYear of Ph.D.Institution
Charles Woodward1987 University of Rochester
Judy Pipher 1971 Cornell University
Martin Harwit 1960 MIT
William Allis 1925 University of Nancy

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exoplanet</span> Planet outside the Solar System

An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not then recognized as such. The first confirmation of the detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, first detected in 1988, was confirmed in 2003. According to statistics from the NASA Exoplanet Archive, As of 21 August 2024, there are 5,747 confirmed exoplanets in 4,289 planetary systems, with 962 systems having more than one planet. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is expected to discover more exoplanets, and to give more insight into their traits, such as their composition, environmental conditions, and potential for life.

HD 210277 is a single star in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 6.54, which makes it a challenge to view with the naked eye, but it is easily visible in binoculars. The star is located at a distance of 69.6 light years from the Sun based on parallax, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −20.9 km/s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gliese 687</span> Star in the constellation Draco

Gliese 687, or GJ 687 (Gliese–Jahreiß 687) is a red dwarf in the constellation Draco. This is one of the closest stars to the Sun and lies at a distance of 14.84 light-years. Even though it is close by, it has an apparent magnitude of about 9, so it can only be seen through a moderately sized telescope. Gliese 687 has a high proper motion, advancing 1.304 arcseconds per year across the sky. It has a net relative velocity of about 39 km/s. It is known to have a Neptune-mass planet. Old books and articles refer to it as Argelander Oeltzen 17415.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transit-timing variation</span> Exoplanet detection method using transit timing variations

Transit-timing variation is a method for detecting exoplanets by observing variations in the timing of a transit. This provides an extremely sensitive method capable of detecting additional planets in the system with masses potentially as small as that of Earth. In tightly packed planetary systems, the gravitational pull of the planets among themselves causes one planet to accelerate and another planet to decelerate along its orbit. The acceleration causes the orbital period of each planet to change. Detecting this effect by measuring the change is known as transit-timing variations. "Timing variation" asks whether the transit occurs with strict periodicity or if there's a variation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mini-Neptune</span> Planet smaller than Neptune with a gas atmosphere

A Mini-Neptune is a planet less massive than Neptune but resembling Neptune in that it has a thick hydrogen-helium atmosphere, probably with deep layers of ice, rock or liquid oceans.

Kepler-32 is an M-type main sequence star located about 1053 light years from Earth, in the constellation of Cygnus. Discovered in January 2012 by the Kepler spacecraft, it shows a 0.58 ± 0.05 solar mass (M☉), a 0.53 ± 0.04 solar radius (R☉), and temperature of 3900.0 K, making it half the mass and radius of the Sun, two-thirds its temperature and 5% its luminosity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-23</span> Star in the constellation Cygnus

Kepler-23 is a G-type main-sequence star about 2,860 light-years away in the northern constellation of Cygnus, the swan. With an apparent visual magnitude of 13.5, it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. This star is similar in mass and temperature to the Sun, but is larger and more luminous. Kepler-23 is orbited by three known exoplanets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-26</span> Star in the constellation Lyra

Kepler-26 is a star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It is located at the celestial coordinates: Right Ascension 18h 59m 45.8408s Declination +46° 33′ 59.438″. With an apparent visual magnitude of 15.5, this star is too faint to be seen with the naked eye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-138</span> Red dwarf in the constellation Lyra

Kepler-138, also known as KOI-314, is a red dwarf located in the constellation Lyra, 219 light years from Earth. It is located within the field of vision of the Kepler spacecraft, the satellite that NASA's Kepler Mission used to detect planets transiting their stars.

Kepler-84 is a Sun-like star 4,700 light-years from the Sun. It is a G-type star. The stellar radius measurement has a large uncertainty of 48% as in 2017, complicating the modelling of the star. The Kepler-84 star has two suspected stellar companions. Four red dwarfs are few arcseconds away and at least one is probably gravitationally bound to Kepler-84. Another is a yellow star of mass 0.855M☉ on projected separations of 0.18±0.05″ or 0.26″.

Kepler-160 is a main-sequence star approximately the width of our Galactic arm away in the constellation Lyra, first studied in detail by the Kepler Mission, a NASA-led operation tasked with discovering terrestrial planets. The star, which is very similar to the Sun in mass and radius, has three confirmed planets and one unconfirmed planet orbiting it.

References

  1. 1 2 Ciardi, D. R.; Fabrycky, D. C.; Ford, E. B.; Gautier, T. N. III; Howell, S. B.; Lissauer, J. J.; Ragozzine, D.; Rowe, J. F. (2013). "On the Relative Sizes of Planets within Kepler Multiple-candidate Systems". The Astrophysical Journal. 763 (1): 41. arXiv: 1212.1859 . Bibcode:2013ApJ...763...41C. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/763/1/41. S2CID   10651504.
  2. 1 2 van Eyken, J. C.; Ciardi, D. R.; et al. (2012). "The PTF Orion Project: A Possible Planet Transiting a T-Tauri Star". The Astrophysical Journal. 755 (1): 42. arXiv: 1206.1510 . Bibcode:2012ApJ...755...42V. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/755/1/42. S2CID   2753064.
  3. ↑ Kane, S. R.; Howell, S. B.; Horch, E. P.; Feng, Y.; Hinkel, N. R.; Ciardi, D. R.; Everett, M. E.; Howard, A. W. & Wright, J. T. (2014). "Limits on Stellar Companions to Exoplanet Host Stars with Eccentric Planets". The Astrophysical Journal. 785 (2): 93. arXiv: 1401.1544 . Bibcode:2014ApJ...785...93K. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/785/2/93. S2CID   2053475.
  4. ↑ Rowe, J. F.; Bryson, S. T.; Marcy, G. W.; Lissauer, J. J.; Jontof-Hutter, D.; Mullally, F.; Gilliland, R. L.; Issacson, H.; Ford, E.; Howell, S. B.; Borucki, W. J.; Haas, M.; Huber, D.; Steffen, J. H.; Thompson, S. E.; Quintana, E.; Barclay, T.; Still, M.; Fortney, J.; Gautier, T. N. III; Hunter, R.; Caldwell, D. A.; Ciardi, D. R.; Devore, E.; Cochran, W.; Jenkins, J.; Agol, E.; Carter, J. A.; Geary, J. (2014). "Validation of Kepler's Multiple Planet Candidates. III. Light Curve Analysis and Announcement of Hundreds of New Multi-planet Systems". The Astrophysical Journal. 784 (1): 45. arXiv: 1402.6534 . Bibcode:2014ApJ...784...45R. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/784/1/45. S2CID   119118620.
  5. ↑ Ciardi, D. R. & Gómez Martín, C. (2007). "Star Formation in the Bok Globule CB54". The Astrophysical Journal. 664 (1): 377–383. arXiv: 0704.0428 . Bibcode:2007ApJ...664..377C. doi:10.1086/518651. S2CID   2823593.
  6. ↑ Ciardi, D. R.; Wachter, S.; Hoard, D. W.; Howell, S. B. & van Belle, G. T. (2006). "Spitzer Space Telescope Observations of Var Her 04: Possible Detection of Dust Formation in a Superoutbursting Tremendous Outburst Amplitude Dwarf Nova". The Astronomical Journal. 132 (5): 1989–1994. arXiv: astro-ph/0608083 . Bibcode:2006AJ....132.1989C. doi:10.1086/508212. S2CID   40895900.
  7. ↑ Ciardi, D. R.; Woodward, C. E.; Clemens, D. P.; Harker, D. E. & Rudy, R. J. (2000). "Morphology and Energetics of the Molecular Gas within a Core and a Diffuse Region in the Filamentary Dark Cloud GF 9". The Astronomical Journal. 120 (1): 393–406. Bibcode:2000AJ....120..393C. doi: 10.1086/301436 .
  8. ↑ Ciardi, D. R.; Howell, S. B.; Hauschildt P. & Allard, F. (1998). "The Relative Contributions to the Near-Infrared Emission in Short Period Cataclysmic Variables". The Astrophysical Journal. 504 (1): 450–460. Bibcode:1998ApJ...504..450C. doi: 10.1086/306081 .
  9. ↑ van Belle, G. T.; Paladini, C.; Aringer, B.; Hron, J. & Ciardi, D. R. (2013). "The PTI Carbon Star Angular Size Survey: Effective Temperatures and Non-sphericity". The Astrophysical Journal. 775 (1): 45. arXiv: 1307.6585 . Bibcode:2013ApJ...775...45V. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/775/1/45. S2CID   43847096.
  10. ↑ Ciardi, D. R.; van Belle, G. T.; Akeson, R. L.; Thompson, R. R.; Lada, E. A. & Howell, S. B. (2001). "On the Near-Infrared Size of Vega". The Astrophysical Journal. 559 (2): 1147–1154. arXiv: astro-ph/0105561 . Bibcode:2001ApJ...559.1147C. doi:10.1086/322345. S2CID   15898697.
  11. ↑ Akeson, R. L.; Millan-Gabet, R. M.; Ciardi, D. R.; et al. (2011). "Radial Structure in the TW Hya Circumstellar Disk". The Astrophysical Journal. 728 (2): 96. Bibcode:2011ApJ...728...96A. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.659.9897 . doi:10.1088/0004-637X/728/2/96. S2CID   122964660.
  12. ↑ Ciardi, D. R.; von Braun, K.; Bryden, G.; van Eyken, J.; Howell, S. B.; Kane, S. R.; Plavchan, P.; Ramírez, S. V. & Stauffer, J. R. (2011). "Characterizing the Variability of Stars with Early-release Kepler Data". The Astronomical Journal. 141 (4): 108. arXiv: 1009.1840 . Bibcode:2011AJ....141..108C. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/141/4/108. S2CID   29244037.
  13. ↑ van Eyken, J. C.; Ciardi, D. R.; et al. (2011). "The Palomar Transient Factory Orion Project: Eclipsing Binaries and Young Stellar Objects". The Astronomical Journal. 142 (2): 60. arXiv: 1106.3570 . Bibcode:2011AJ....142...60V. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/142/2/60. S2CID   50889385.
  14. ↑ "26312 Ciardi (1998 TG34)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  15. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
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