Overview
Education
- M.Sc., Astronomy, University of Florida, 2020
- B.Sc., Astronomy & Astrophysics, Penn State University, 2018
Research
Half the isotopes heavier than Fe (iron) are formed through the rapid-neutron capture process (r-process), but we still don't know the dominant astrophysical site of this process in the early universe. I collect and analyze (optical and UV) spectroscopic data of metal-poor stars with enhanced r-process elements to model the physical conditions, which could produce the abundance signature of the r-process elements as observed in these stars. I also use nucleocosmochronometry to age-date the metal-poor stars. This is possible since some r-process elements are radioactive over long-timescales allowing a robust age-estimate of the star, which in turn offers a lower-limit on the age of the universe.
Areas of Study
- Near-Field Cosmology
- R-Process Enrichment Events