Generating models that can be tested with observations
These research projects are looking at models of stellar evolution, planet formation, galactic centre magnetic fields and black holes.
Learn more about the projects we are undertaking, the researchers engaged in them, and who you can contact to get involved.
The structure and evolution of disks around evolved binary stars and its implications on binary evolution
This study involves the intertwined stories of stellar and binary evolution.
We have established that stable circumbinary disks exist around dying binary stars. However, the role played by the circumbinary disk during the evolution of the star remains elusive.
This project is aimed at investigating these second-generation protoplanetary disks around evolved binaries. We are using high-angular-resolution imaging with the state-of-the-art Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile.
The ultimate goal of this research is to understand disk evolution and quantify the impact of these disks on the binary evolution of the central objects.
Supervisor: Devika Kamath
Stellar collisions
Powerful telescopes have recently begun monitoring the sky every night, creating the first detailed ‘movie’ of the night sky and revealing short-timescale ‘flashes’.
Some of these are due to stellar pairs interacting with one another, creating energetic explosions now finally observed.
Yet explaining what goes on during these interactions is not so easy and many mysteries remain unsolved, including the understanding of supernovae, gamma ray bursts and the emission of detectable gravitational waves.
Choose from sub-projects spanning the interaction of planets with their mother star to the interaction of massive stars on eccentric orbits. See more information about this project.
Supervisor: Orsola De Marco