PhD Student
Dedicated to the study of exoplanetary atmospheres
office : PES, LAB-1-00
adress : Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Boulevard de l’Observatoire, 06304 NICE
email : paulina.palma-bifani@oca.eu
GitHub : https://github.com/Palma-Bifani
ORCID : 0000-0002-6217-6867
Research interests
I am studying atmospheric observations of planets, especially young super-Jupiters since we can directly image them and obtain spectra at near-to-mid-infrared wavelengths. By studying these companions' physical and chemical properties, we aim to understand how they relate to their formation and evolutionary conditions. This is especially important to understand the boundary between star-like and planet-like objects and if there is one.
I am also involved in simulating MICADO observations, which will be one of the first-generation instruments at the ELT. I'm currently developing end-to-end simulations of spectroscopic observations of super-Jupiters, which include the simulations of the raw observations, the data reduction procedure, and quantifying the improved accuracy for estimating the physical properties through atmospheric modeling. I collaborate with the instrumentation and exoplanets teams from LESIA at the Observatoire de Paris for this project.
My PhD supervisors are Gaël Chauvin and Pierre Baudoz. I'm co-supervised by Mickaël Bonnefoy, Elsa Huby, and Patricio Rojo.
I am a member of the ForMoSA python package developer team with Simon Petrus, Matthieu Ravet, Mickaël Bonnefoy, and Gaël Chauvin. ForMoSA is a Forward Modeling tool for Spectral Analysis developed to explore the best atmospheric properties of exoplanets through a nested sampling approach. More information about ForMoSA at https://formosa.readthedocs.io/en/latest/.
Teams: TOP, MPO, and ETE
Publications
Peer reviewed
- Atmospheric properties of AF Lep b with forward modeling. Palma-Bifani, P., Chauvin, G., et al. (2024), A&A, in press; doi:10.48550/arXiv.2401.05491
- Peering into the young planetary system AB Pic. Atmosphere, orbit, obliquity, and second planetary candidate. Palma-Bifani, P., Chauvin, G., et al. (2024), A&A, Volume 670, A90; 10.1051/0004-6361/202244294
Proceedings
- SF2A 2023 proceeding: MICADO spectroscopic mode for exoplanet characterization. Palma-Bifani, P., Baudoz, P., et al. (2023); Bibcode 2023sf2a.conf..239P
Complete list including co-authored works at NASA/ADS.
Background
I'm a PhD student at the Lagrange Laboratory at Université de la Côte d'Azur in Nice. I did my undergrad studies at the Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas at Universidad de Chile, followed by a Master of Science degree at the same university's astronomy department. I speak Spanish, English, German, and French.
