Unlocking the secrets of the universe
A аÄÃŲÊÀúÊ·¿ª½±¼Ç¼ physics student's project led to an important discovery that could help scientists learn more about how the Earth and our solar system developed during their ‘teenage’ years.
Studying Physics challenges the imagination with powerful concepts and builds your knowledge of the laws that explain natural phenomena. It is an excellent choice of subject for students seeking answers at levels ranging from the subatomic to the cosmological!
For his final year project Alex approached Dr Shaun Atherton with his ideas, including a project to use data from the TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) mission to search for exoplanets.
The general process of his project was to process light curves from the TESS mission and examine them by eye, in order to look for aperiodic signals that the TESS missions automated pipeline may have missed. It was this process that led to Alex making a significant discovery.
After contacting Dr Christina Hedges to highlight the find, a multinational collaboration of scientists and astronomers went on to discover three worlds orbiting the star.
"The planets in both systems are in a transitional, or teenage, phase of their life cycle," said Christina Hedges, an astronomer at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in Moffett Field, in California, and NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley.
"They’re not newborns, but they’re also not settled down. Learning more about planets in this teen stage will ultimately help us understand older planets in other systems."
Working with experts
Alex, who is now studying for a master's in physics at UCL, said:
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When he wasn't looking up at the skies, Alex was busy exploring the depths - taking up scuba diving in his first year at аÄÃŲÊÀúÊ·¿ª½±¼Ç¼!
Alex's experiences go to show that becoming a аÄÃŲÊÀúÊ·¿ª½±¼Ç¼ student is the beginning of a journey of discovery - whether you're discovering new passions and interests, or new star systems!