Overview

I grew up in Polk county, Florida and did my undergraduate work at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach with Dr. Ted von Hippel working on the improvement of age estimations in white dwarfs. I then did my Ph.D at the University of Oklahoma with Dr. Mukremin Kilic where I studied the origins and impacts of magnetic fields of white dwarfs. I'm now working in Dr. Jamie Tayar's group as a postdoc to study the connections between evolved stars and white dwarfs, in particular analyzing rotation, magnetism, as well as comparing methods to determine stellar ages.

Education

• Ph.D., University of Oklahoma, 2025
• B.S., Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2018

Research

I'm an observational astronomer with a focus on variable stars. I have primarily conducted time-series spectroscopy with large ground-based telescopes such as the Gemini 8m, MMT 6.5m, and the APO 3.5m to detect changes in the line profiles of white dwarfs. Normally these objects do not vary, but magnetic fields can affect convective processes that alter the distribution of elements in the atmosphere. This results in patches of varying abundances that manifest as line variations while the target rotates. Given the importance of magnetic fields for these unique objects, I'm generally interested in magnetism and rotation not just in white dwarfs but in stars more broadly. Understanding how rotation rates slow down as stars age, what happens to the stellar magnetic field at different evolution stages, and the effects of binary interactions are important for studying all phases of stellar evolution.

Areas of Study

• White Dwarfs
• Stellar Magnetism
• Stellar Variability

Selected Publications

"Magnetic White Dwarfs in the SDSS 100 pc Sample: Further Evidence of Two Formation Channels", Moss et al. 2025, ApJ, 990, 25

"Discovery of a magnetic double-faced DBA white dwarf", Moss et al. 2024, MNRAS, 527, 4

"Improving White Dwarfs as Chronometers with Gaia Parallaxes and Spectroscopic Metallicities", Moss et al. 2022, ApJ, 929, 26