Hi! I am a Research Associate at the Astrophysics Department of the Commissariat à l´énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) in Paris-Saclay, working in the field of exoplanet characterisation.
My research activity to date has focused on the transiting exoplanet systems, for which at least one planet passes in front of (transit) and/or behind (eclipse) the host star for a portion of its orbit. This geometric configuration favors the detailed characterization of these systems, including information on the chemistry and dynamics of the exoplanet atmosphere. The number of transiting exoplanets accounts for about 75% of the known exoplanet population, largely owing to targeted research programs.
The challenge is the need to disentangle various signals, instrumental or astrophysical in nature, that contribute to the observations with similar amplitudes. For this reason, I specialised in the development of optimal methods for the data analysis, including blind source separation techniques, specialised instrument pipelines, bayesian algorithms and modeling of astrophysical time series. I have analysed many observations of transits, eclipses and phase-curves taken with Spitzer/IRAC, HST/WFC3, HST/STIS and Kepler data. I have a keen interest in the study of exoplanetary atmospheres with ground-based high-resolution Doppler spectroscopy to be combined with the space-based observations.
I am actively involved in three of the next space missions, being a member of:
- the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) Guaranteed Time Observation (GTO) exoplanet group;
- the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (ARIEL) scientific consortium;
- the PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) scientific consortium.