The NASA Fellowship Postdoctoral program (NPP) is seeking a Postdoc / Research Scientist for the NASA Ames exoplanet speckle imaging group. This group operates multiple high-resolution imaging instruments on some of the most advanced optical telescopes in the world. The dual-channel optical speckle imagers are: NESSI, Alopeke, and Zorro, and are installed at the WIYN 3.5-m, Gemini-N & Gemini-S 8-m telescopes. The instruments share common operating and data reduction software used to make observations, process and reduce the data, and submit it to the NASA Exoplanet data archive.
The NPP Fellowship position would be located at NASA’s Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, CA, and is initially for two years with the possibility of extension for a third.
NASA NPP postdoc applications are accepted three times each year. This ad is seeking applicants for the opportunity listed below and applications by the 1 March 2024 call. For technical questions about the proposed science plan, contact Dr. Steve B. Howell, PI of the NASA high-resolution imaging program at [email protected] . For application, proposal, and submission information, visit the NASA NPP web site at https://npp.orau.org/index.html and search for this specific opportunity at the NASA Ames Research Center, astrophysics category.
Duties and Responsibilities:
The successful candidate will:
- Become integrated into the NASA high-resolution speckle image group
- Become familiar with the speckle instruments, data reduction, and analysis techniques
- Perform software analysis to determine instrumental/observational metrics such as S/N, contrast limits, etc.
- Revise and maintain documentation on the preparation of speckle observations and the reduction of data.
- Support the project in the design and implementation of outreach, including a webpage, to increase awareness about the use of speckle data.
- Participate in the observing programs at various telescopes.
- Participate/lead in the writing and submission of scientific papers related to .his position
- Develop your own (25%) research program.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Ph.D degree in astronomy, physics, or a related field.
- At least one year of experience at a scientific or research organization.
- At least one year of experience in observational astronomy.
- Experience in scientific computation with knowledge in one or more of C, Tcl, GTK, IDL, Python and/or other common scientific computational software platforms.
- Experience with high-resolution imaging, and/or binary stars and/or exoplanet research
- Outstanding oral and written communication skills.
- A record of independent research and contributions to publications.
- Ability to work well with others on a team.