Suzanne Aigrain Explained

Suzanne Aigrain
Birth Date:9 January 1979[1]
Workplaces:University of Oxford
University of Exeter
University of Cambridge
Fields:Astrophysics
Astronomy
Exoplanets
Bayesian inference
Alma Mater:Imperial College London (BSc)
University of Cambridge (PhD)
Thesis Title:Planetary transits and stellar variability
Thesis Url:http://inspirehep.net/record/675533/
Thesis Year:2005

Suzanne Aigrain (born 1979)[1] is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. She studies exoplanets and stellar variability.[2]

Early life and education

Aigrain grew up in Toulouse, France, and was educated at the Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat.[1] She studied physics at Imperial College London and graduated in 2000.[3] During her undergraduate studies she was an intern at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. She spent sixth months at the European Space Agency[4] before joining the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge for her doctoral studies, earning a PhD in 2005 for work on planetary transits and stellar variability.[5]

Career and research

Aigrain was a postdoctoral research associate in the Institute of Astronomy from 2004. In 2007 Aigrain joined the University of Exeter as a lecturer.[6] [7] She was appointed a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford in 2010.[8] She leads the Stars & Planets group at Oxford Astrophysics, studying exoplanets and their stars.[9] She uses the Hubble Space Telescope, the Very Large Telescope and CoRoT satellite.[10] In 2011 she hosted a meeting with the Institute of Physics and Royal Astronomical Society to discuss recent discoveries in exoplanets, attended by Giovanna Tinetti and Jocelyn Bell Burnell.[11]

She has expressed her concerns about the detection of planets using the radial velocity method to detect exoplanets; such as instrumental precision, stellar activity, patchy observations and limitations of other models.[12] She was part of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) discovery of the Earth sized planet close to Alpha Centauri Bb,[13] but played an even closer role in the study that disproved the planet's existence in 2016.[14]

Aigrain and her group use Bayesian inference to correct for instrumental systematics while robustly preserving real astrophysical signals. She has played a leading role in the Kepler (K2) mission, correcting for its systematic noise and discovering many transiting planets.[15] Aigrain has studied hot Jupiters and other Jupiter-like planets.[16] She has looked at the potential to use transit surveys to study stellar clusters.[17] Her research has been funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).[18]

In 2019 Algrain was awarded a European Research Council Consolidator Grant to study exoplanets.[19]

Aigrain is interested in public engagement and regularly delivers popular science lectures.[20] [21] She spoke about exoplanets on In Our Time in 2013.,[22] and has taken part in Pint of Science.[23] In 2018 she spoke at the Oxford Playhouse, accompanying the play One Small Step.[24] In November 2018 she was part of the Kings Place Bach, the Universe and Everything performance.[25] She is a member of the International Astronomical Union.[26] She writes non-fiction with Philippe Aigrain, as well as writing her own poetry.[27] [28] [29]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Suzanne. Aigrain. 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20150807083336/https://www.astro.ex.ac.uk/people/suz/docs/cv.pdf. 2015-08-07. Suzanne Aigrain CV. Ex.ac.uk.
  2. Web site: Suzanne Aigrain - University of Oxford Department of Physics. 2.physics.ox.ac.uk. 27 November 2018.
  3. Web site: All Souls College Oxford. Asc.ox.ac.uk. en. 2018-11-25.
  4. Web site: Suzanne AIGRAIN - Innovation Convention 2014. Ec.europa.eu. en. 2018-11-25.
  5. PhD. University of Cambridge. Planetary transits and stellar variability. Suzanne. Aigrain. 2005. . Inspirehep.net. 890157875. astro-ph/0501558 .
  6. Web site: Dr Suzanne Aigrain. Newton.ex.ac.uk. 2018-11-25.
  7. Web site: Past group photos Physics and Astronomy University of Exeter. Emps.exeter.ac.uk. en. 2018-11-25.
  8. Web site: Suzanne Aigrain: homepage. Astro.ex.ac.uk. 2018-11-25.
  9. Web site: about – stars & planets @ oxford. Splox.net. en-US. 2018-11-25.
  10. News: Interview: Suzanne Aigrain SpaceCareers.uk. SpaceCareers.uk. 2018-11-25. en-GB.
  11. Web site: A golden age of exoplanet discovery. Spacedaily.com. 2018-11-25.
  12. News: Interview with Suzanne Aigrain : On the Search for nearby Earth-like Exoplanets. 2016-02-14. PALE RED DOT. 2018-11-25. fr-FR.
  13. Web site: UK astronomers celebrate discovery of new Earth-sized planet - Science and Technology Facilities Council. Stfc.ukri.org. United Kingdom Research and Innovation. en. 2018-11-25.
  14. Rajpaul. V.. Aigraine. S.. 2016. Ghost in the time series: no planet for Alpha Cen B.. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. en. 456. 1. L6–L10. 10.1093/mnrasl/slv164. free . 1510.05598 . 119294717.
  15. Howell. Steve B.. Sobeck. Charlie. Haas. Michael. Still. Martin. Barclay. Thomas. Mullally. Fergal. Troeltzsch. John. Aigrain. Suzanne. Bryson. Stephen T.. 2014. The K2 Mission: Characterization and Early Results. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. en. 126. 938. 398–408. 10.1086/676406. 0004-6280. 1402.5163. 2014PASP..126..398H. 119206652.
  16. Fletcher. Leigh N.. Irwin. Patrick G. J.. Barstow. Joanna K.. Kok. Remco J. de. Lee. Jae-Min. Aigrain. Suzanne. 2014. Exploring the diversity of Jupiter-class planets. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. en. 372. 2014. 20130064. 10.1098/rsta.2013.0064. 1364-503X. 24664910. 3982424 . 2014RSPTA.37230064F.
  17. Aigrain. S.. Pont. F.. 2007. On the potential of transit surveys in star clusters: impact of correlated noise and radial velocity follow-up. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. en. 378. 2. 741–752. 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11823.x. free . 0035-8711. 0704.0574. 2007MNRAS.378..741A. 15479773.
  18. Web site: GTR . gtr.ukri.org . 17 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181127193453/https://gtr.ukri.org/person/5B7CD634-7250-48B0-B01D-3FE496197FD0 . 27 November 2018 . dead.
  19. Web site: ERC awards over €600 million to Europe's top researchers. 2019-12-05. ERC: European Research Council. en. 2019-12-11.
  20. Web site: Exploring the Diversity of Exoplanets. Anon. Iop.org. en-GB. 2018-11-25.
  21. Web site: Exploring the Diversity of Exoplanets. Rse.org.uk. 2018-11-25.
  22. Web site: BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Exoplanets. Bbc.co.uk. BBC. en-GB. 2018-11-25.
  23. Web site: Deep space discoveries. Pintofscience.co.uk. en-GB. 2018-11-25.
  24. Web site: One Small Step: Far Beyond The Moon. Oxfordplayhouse.com. en. 2018-11-25.
  25. News: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – Worlds Beyond • Kings Place. Kings Place. 2018-11-25. en-GB.
  26. Web site: Suzanne Aigrain at IAU. International Astronomical Union. Iau.org. 2018-11-25.
  27. Book: Aigrain, Philippe. Sharing: Culture and the Economy in the Internet Age. 2012. Amsterdam University Press. 9789089643858. en.
  28. Web site: About www.sharing-thebook.com. Sharing-thebook.com. en. 2018-11-25.
  29. Web site: Suzanne Aigrain: Poetry. Astro.ex.ac.uk. 2018-11-25.

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