About Dr. Faherty:
This episode is brought to you from Caveat in NYC, featuring Dr. Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Faherty is an expert on brown dwarfs, stars that are unable to sustain the fusion of hydrogen as a result of their low mass.
Dr. Jackie Faherty
After receiving her BS from Notre Dame and her PhD from Stony Brook University, Dr. Faherty received both the National Science Foundation International Research Fellowship and the NASA Hubble Fellowship. Dr. Faherty’s work falls under the umbrella of “exoplanet characterization studies” but focuses mainly on investigating the physical characteristics of brown dwarfs. Dr. Faherty and her team have worked to collect data on the nearest brown dwarfs (within 20 parsecs) as well as any brown dwarves outside that range exhibiting any unique characteristics.
Why it Matters:
Learning more about our solar system and the ones beyond it is vital to understanding our own planet, and how we got to be where we are. Not only is Dr. Faherty an accomplished scientist, she is also a passionate advocate for engaging students and communities in order to instill the values of curiosity and discovery.
To learn more about Dr. Faherty’s work:
Website: http://www.jackiefaherty.com/scientific-research/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jfaherty?lang=en
Further Reading:
Analyzing the properties of brown dwarfs versus exoplanets:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016ApJS..225...10F
Exploring the relationship between kinematics, age, and color through analysis of velocity: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AJ....137....1F
Examining the relationship between extreme cold temperatures and luminosity in brown dwarfs:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014ApJ...796...39T