Michael Gully-Santiago, Ph.D. Email & Phone Number

Austin, Texas, United States

Precision infrared metrology

United States

New projects building astrophysical models directly into machine learning frameworks to characterize exoplanet atmospheres. It works, it’s fun!

Austin, Texas, United States

Researching Exoplanet Atmospheres with high resolution near-infrared spectroscopy at the UT Austin Department of Astronomy

Nasa Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Ca, Usa

I recently started a new job at the Kepler/K2 Guest Observer (GO) office! My role involves extracting and curating useful scientific information from the Kepler Spacecraft's high precision photometer, and supporting the community in our mission to understand the universe through the minute temporal variations of starlight. I look forward to seeing my work touch on aspects of star formation, supernova cosmology, education, public outreach, exoplanets, open science, interactive data… Show more I recently started a new job at the Kepler/K2 Guest Observer (GO) office! My role involves extracting and curating useful scientific information from the Kepler Spacecraft's high precision photometer, and supporting the community in our mission to understand the universe through the minute temporal variations of starlight. I look forward to seeing my work touch on aspects of star formation, supernova cosmology, education, public outreach, exoplanets, open science, interactive data visualization, and much more. I invite you to reach out and share your vision for how to use Kepler in its final year or two of operation. Show less

Nasa Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Ca

I am inferring the properties of stars based on their infrared spectra. See my recent paper in the Astrophysical Journal for more info!

Beijing City, China

My research centers around measuring the fundamental stellar properties of young stars. I am leveraging data from the high-resolution spectrograph IGRINS, which employs an echelle grating I fabricated as a graduate student. I am using a forward-modeling approach to infer simultaneously the intrinsic stellar properties, instrumental calibration parameters, and other extrinsic properties of the young star and disk system. The combination of the robust inference approach, the near-infrared… Show more My research centers around measuring the fundamental stellar properties of young stars. I am leveraging data from the high-resolution spectrograph IGRINS, which employs an echelle grating I fabricated as a graduate student. I am using a forward-modeling approach to infer simultaneously the intrinsic stellar properties, instrumental calibration parameters, and other extrinsic properties of the young star and disk system. The combination of the robust inference approach, the near-infrared wavelength range, and the high spectral grasp of IGRINS offers a unique capability to measure very small signals in the presence of noisy data and biased models. Working with collaborator Greg Herczeg, we are now poised to answer a wide array of questions about how young stars and their disks evolve in the first 10 million years of their existence. Show less

Austin, Texas

I worked on data-intensive observational astronomy projects and optical device development projects. The common theme among these projects was the importance of spectroscopy for interpreting the properties of stars.My device development projects centered on work with the Jaffe Silicon Diffractive Optics Group which custom makes diffraction gratings out of monocrystalline silicon. Silicon is an excellent optical material in the infrared because of its high (n = 3.4) refractive index… Show more I worked on data-intensive observational astronomy projects and optical device development projects. The common theme among these projects was the importance of spectroscopy for interpreting the properties of stars.My device development projects centered on work with the Jaffe Silicon Diffractive Optics Group which custom makes diffraction gratings out of monocrystalline silicon. Silicon is an excellent optical material in the infrared because of its high (n = 3.4) refractive index, and its well-characterized chemical, physical, and lithographic properties. I ran the optics lab at UT Austin, performing all of the optical metrology from 2009-2013, and overhauling our approaches in my last two years with the group. My products included a suite of diffraction limited grisms for the James Webb Space Telescope, custom immersion gratings for IGRINS and iSHELL, and prototype devices for several research and development projects, including space-based Earth Science applications. My observational astronomy projects involved "needle-in-a-haystack" type search problems aimed at the discovery and characterization of rare young substars among hundreds of thousands of contaminating main sequence and evolved stars. This problem can be thought of as a machine learning problem of supervised classification with ~15 dimensions and ~100,000 instances. Show less

Pasadena, Ca

I applied electron beam lithography technology at the JPL Microdevices Laboratory. I designed an fabricated high performance silicon diffractive optical devices for astronomical and earth science applications. Specifically the silicon immersion gratings are being used in ground- and space- based spectrographs. This technology provides very high (1 part per 100000) spectral resolution. The technology is especially attractive for space applications since it dramatically reduces the requisite… Show more I applied electron beam lithography technology at the JPL Microdevices Laboratory. I designed an fabricated high performance silicon diffractive optical devices for astronomical and earth science applications. Specifically the silicon immersion gratings are being used in ground- and space- based spectrographs. This technology provides very high (1 part per 100000) spectral resolution. The technology is especially attractive for space applications since it dramatically reduces the requisite volume of a scientific instrument for a given desired spectral resolution and beam size. Show less

Brookline, Ma, Usa

I worked as an educator at the Clay Center Observatory concurrently with and immediately after my undergraduate degree. The Clay Center is equipped with a fast tracking robotic DFM Engineering 0.6 meter diameter telescope that we used to image the fast-moving Space Shuttle in orbit around the Earth. I taught Brookline Adult and Community Education classes, and hosted popular telescope viewing nights.

Phd, Astronomy

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), Astronomy & Physics