I am interested in the complete “story” of exoplanets: how different kinds of planets form and evolve (possibly even evolving into something that can host life!), and how we can observe this process. This leads to my interest in protoplanetary and debris disks (including our own Kuiper Belt), planet characterization, and planet demographics. I am also interested in the intersection between exoplanets and solar system science, using what we know from our own solar system to understand distant systems (and vice versa). In my career so far, I have mostly been looking at these topics through the lens of high contrast imaging, studying the population of young, large semimajor axis giant planets and brown dwarf companions.
Gemini Planet Imager - Studying Debris Disks
As a grad student at UCLA in Prof. Mike Fitzgerald's group, I've recently started working as part of the Gemini Planet Imager collaboration! I'll be characterizing a debris disk from the survey - more info soon!
As a grad student at UCLA in Prof. Mike Fitzgerald's group, I've recently started working as part of the Gemini Planet Imager collaboration! I'll be characterizing a debris disk from the survey - more info soon!
Speckles in High Contrast Imaging
For my first and second years of grad school, I worked with Prof. Mike Fitzgerald and collaborators at UCSB on a new tool to remove speckle noise from high contrast imaging data, with the goal of using this tool to find fainter exoplanets. Results and more info coming soon!
For my first and second years of grad school, I worked with Prof. Mike Fitzgerald and collaborators at UCSB on a new tool to remove speckle noise from high contrast imaging data, with the goal of using this tool to find fainter exoplanets. Results and more info coming soon!
R. Dodkins, K. Davis, B.L. Lewis, et al. “First Principle Simulator of a Stochastically Varying Image Plane for Photon-Counting High Contrast Applications.” Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (2020): 132 (1016), 104503.
New Horizons - NASA's Pluto-Kuiper Belt Mission
Starting as a part of STScI's Summer 2017 student program, I worked with data from the New Horizons mission to better understand nitrogen - the dominant component of Pluto's surface and atmosphere - and the factors that influence its transport across the surface, through an analysis of the LEISA infrared hyperspectral data and related composition maps, as well as volatile transport modeling. My initial presentation for the summer program can be viewed on STScI's archive.
Starting as a part of STScI's Summer 2017 student program, I worked with data from the New Horizons mission to better understand nitrogen - the dominant component of Pluto's surface and atmosphere - and the factors that influence its transport across the surface, through an analysis of the LEISA infrared hyperspectral data and related composition maps, as well as volatile transport modeling. My initial presentation for the summer program can be viewed on STScI's archive.
B.L. Lewis, J. Stansberry, B. Holler, et al. and the New Horizons Science Team. “Distribution and Energy Balance of Pluto’s Nitrogen Ice, as seen by New Horizons in 2015.” Icarus Special Issue (2021): 113633
P. Johnson, K. Mandt, J. Stansberry, L. Young, S. Protopapa, B.L. Lewis, et. al. “Modeling Pluto’s Minimum Pressure: Implications for Haze Production.” Icarus (2020): 114070.
C. Lisse, L.A. Young, D.P. Cruikshank, S.A. Sandford, S.A. Stern, B.L. Lewis, et. al. “On the Stability of KBO 2014 MU69s and Plutos Ices.” Icarus (2020): 114072.
P. Johnson, K. Mandt, J. Stansberry, L. Young, S. Protopapa, B.L. Lewis, et. al. “Modeling Pluto’s Minimum Pressure: Implications for Haze Production.” Icarus (2020): 114070.
C. Lisse, L.A. Young, D.P. Cruikshank, S.A. Sandford, S.A. Stern, B.L. Lewis, et. al. “On the Stability of KBO 2014 MU69s and Plutos Ices.” Icarus (2020): 114072.
Project 1640 - Toward Exploration of Other Worlds
Beginning as an REU student at the American Museum of Natural History in Summer 2016 under the supervision of Dr. Rebecca Oppenheimer, I was a part of Project 1640, a high contrast imaging instrument at Palomar Observatory in CA, used to conduct a survey of nearly 200 nearby stars to search for exoplanets and brown dwarfs. I have worked on various aspects of the survey, including selecting targets and staffing observing runs with the instrument, processing data, and spectral characterization.
Beginning as an REU student at the American Museum of Natural History in Summer 2016 under the supervision of Dr. Rebecca Oppenheimer, I was a part of Project 1640, a high contrast imaging instrument at Palomar Observatory in CA, used to conduct a survey of nearly 200 nearby stars to search for exoplanets and brown dwarfs. I have worked on various aspects of the survey, including selecting targets and staffing observing runs with the instrument, processing data, and spectral characterization.
J. Aguilar, R. Nilsson, R. Oppenheimer, B.L. Lewis, L. Pueyo, et. al. “Discovery of a New Companion Object through High-Contrast Imaging.” Submitted to ApJ.
A complete list of my publications can be found on Google Scholar.
Photos courtesy of Gemini Planet Imager, NASA/SWRI/New Horizons, Project 1640.