Exploring Exoplanets

Dr. Darin Ragozzine receives Career award to study exoplanets

In 2022, Dr. Darin Ragozzine was selected as a recipient of the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The CAREER award is the NSF’s most prestigious honor given to promising early-career faculty, to help kick-start their research with funding and recognition. Each year, roughly 400 CAREER awards are issued to outstanding early-career faculty. The award is granted based on their potential to both advance their field and act as a role model in research and education. 

Dr. Ragozzine has been conducting astronomy research at BYU since 2016. His current research focuses on computational astrophysics, where he studies planetary sciences and exoplanets. He is currently involved with a number of exciting, cutting-edge NASA projects, including New Horizons Kuiper Belt Extended Mission, Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, and the James Webb Space Telescope. Dr. Ragozzine has worked with over 15 undergraduate and graduate students to publish several notable papers on his research. Prior to receiving the CAREER award, Dr. Ragozzine received the Young Scholar Award from the BYU College of Physical and Mathematical sciences. Dr. Ragozzine has not only contributed to research, but has also contributed to teaching at BYU. He wrote a textbook for the introductory astronomy class and led the restructuring of computational physics courses.  

Dr. Ragozzine’s research proposal, titled "CAREER: The True Mass-Radius-Period Distribution of Small Exoplanets," aims to improve the process of calculating exoplanet masses and similar characteristics by adopting a new, photodynamical model.  This model allows a larger breadth of data, including planetary cadence and light information, to be incorporated into mass calculations, yielding new and higher-accuracy measurements than previously possible.  His team expects to be able to provide at least 50 new mass calculations of exoplanets to the scientific community as a result of this work.  Additionally, he hopes to contribute to astrophysics education by creating an online repository of astronomy-related gifs and resources, and by contributing to the development of an exoplanet chapter in an astronomy textbook. 

Student authors: Taylor Kimball, Alexis Gibson, and Emma McClure 

News and Events

Image for BYU Women Represent at CUWiP 2024
BYU Women Represent at CUWiP 2024
21 women student attend conference at Montana State University, where students engaged in keynote speeches, panels, and research presentations.
Image for Dr. John Colton’s Sabbatical to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Dr. John Colton’s Sabbatical to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Dr. John Colton embarked on a six-month sabbatical at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado to explore the use of terahertz radiation in probing the chiral properties of hybrid perovskite materials, a research area previously unfamiliar to him.
Image for Nathan Powers, Updated labs and AAPT lab committee work
Nathan Powers, Updated labs and AAPT lab committee work
Dr. Powers initiated the effort to update BYU’s physics undergraduate lab curriculum in 2015. The revamped curriculum, aimed at teaching students how to construct knowledge from experiments.
Image for New Weather Station
New Weather Station
A group of undergraduate students braved the heat and heights of the ESC roof to install a new weather station. The station is up and running, and will hopefully record data for years to come.
Image for Study analyzes distant Kuiper Belt object with NASA's Hubble data
Study analyzes distant Kuiper Belt object with NASA's Hubble data
Using data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a new study suggests that an object previously thought to be a binary system may be a rare triple system of orbiting bodies.
Image for BYU’s Rising Astronomers Take Center Stage at the Winter AAS Conference
BYU’s Rising Astronomers Take Center Stage at the Winter AAS Conference
In early January 2025, a group of 16 students from Brigham Young University’s Physics & Astronomy Department showcased their research at the prestigious American Astronomical Society (AAS) in National Harbor, Maryland.
Image for Acoustics group studies the roar of SpaceX's Starship
Acoustics group studies the roar of SpaceX's Starship
Acoustics faculty and students measure the thunderous noise of the world’s most powerful rocket, exploring its impact on communities and the environment.
Image for Dr. Stephens’ Sabbatical to University of Arizona
Dr. Stephens’ Sabbatical to University of Arizona
Dr. Stephens participated in a research project at the University of Arizona focused on studying brown dwarfs using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).