Cool stars & Exoplanets Group
Our main area of research is on the interaction of exoplanets with their host star’s wind. For that, we develop 3D magnetohydrodynamics numerical simulations of winds of cool stars, which permeate entire exoplanetary systems.
The image on the left shows the output of the wind simulation of the planet-hosting star HD189733. The distance to the planet's orbit is indicated to scale. The stellar magnetic field (lines shown in grey) is anchored on the star.Prof. Aline A Vidotto
European Research Council Consolidator Grant awardee 2018
Irish Research Council Laureate awardee 2017/2018
Twitter: @AlineVidotto
E-mail: aline.vidotto@tcd.ie
Irish Research Council Laureate awardee 2017/2018
Twitter: @AlineVidotto
E-mail: aline.vidotto@tcd.ie
Group Members:
- Prof Aline Vidotto (Principal Investigator)
- Dr Gopal Hazra (Research Fellow)
- Dr Donna Rodgers-Lee (Research Fellow)
- Dr Carolina Villarreal D'Angelo (Associate Research Fellow)
- Stephen Carolan (PhD Student)
- Robert Kavanagh (PhD Student)
- Amanda Mesquita (PhD Student)
- Dualta O Fionnagain (PhD Student)
Latest News
Cool Stars 21 - splinter sessions: now accepting abstracts
We are organising two splinter sessions in Cool Stars 21 (Toulouse, 22-26 June 2020): Manifestations of star-planet interactions and Towards a better understanding of cool star magnetised winds and mass-loss rates.
Two 3-year Postdoctoral positions available in my group
Two 3-year Postdoctoral positions are available to work on modelling outflows from stars (winds) and exoplanets (atmospheric escape). The starting dates of the positions are negotiable, and could be as early as November 2018, but no later than June 2019. Deadline for application submission: 16 September 2018.
The new logo of CUTE is ... cute
The CUTE space mission now has a brand new logo! With this small satellite, we will observe transiting exoplanets in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum. This will allows us to learn more about atmospheric escape and exoplanetary magnetism.
PhD position in my group
A PhD position is available to work on “Stellar winds of M dwarfs: Can red stars host habitable exoplanets?”. M dwarf stars are currently the main targets in searches for potentially-habitable terrestrial exoplanets. Deadline for application submission: 18 March 2018. Preferred start date: 3 Sept 2018.
7th Bcool meeting:
The 2018 edition of the Bcool meeting will be hosted by the School of Physics, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, from 9 to 11 April, 2018. The BCool meetings gather each year specialists on stellar magnetic fields and their impact on exoplanets.
CUTE
The CUTE space mission was selected by NASA for funding! With this small satellite, we will observe transiting exoplanets in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum. This will allows us to learn more about atmospheric escape and exoplanetary magnetism. The first CUTE science meeting took place in the School of Physics, TCD, on 26-27 Oct 2017.