In Geneva, as a CHEOPS PhD candidate, I designed and ran the search for hot- and warm-Jupiters in the publicly released data from the K2 mission. I was then responsible for initiating radial velocity follow-up of the best candidates using the Swiss-Euler telescope at La Silla, Chile. This was done in collaboration with the whole Exoplanet group in Geneva as well as other groups around Europe, the USA and Chile. This resulted in two planet discoveries, K2-140 b and K2-311 b, as primary author.
Furthermore, prior to my PhD, in 2014 I went to Caltech for a summer project at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI). I searched for previously undiscovered transits of exoplanets in Kepler data. Because the automated detection software required exoplanet candidates to transit a minimum of three times in a light curve, I searched for transits which only appeared once or twice. I discovered a long-period (2.8 years) Saturn-sized planet and, after receiving follow-up radial velocity observations, it was published a few years later as Kepler-1654 b.
Key Publications
Below are a handful of key publications where I contributed with my exoplanet detection experience:
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Kepler-21b: A Rocky Planet Around a V = 8.25 Magnitude Star
López-Morales, Mercedes; Haywood, Raphaëlle D.; Coughlin, Jeffrey L.; Zeng, Li; Buchhave, Lars A.; Giles, Helen A. C.; Affer, Laura; Bonomo, Aldo S.; Charbonneau, David; Collier Cameron, Andrew; Consentino, Rosario; Dressing, Courtney D.; Dumusque, Xavier; Figueira, Pedro; Fiorenzano, Aldo F. M.; Harutyunyan, Avet; Johnson, John Asher; Latham, David W.; Lopez, Eric D.; Lovis, Christophe Malavolta, Luca; Mayor, Michel; Micela, Giusi; Molinari, Emilio; Mortier, Annelies; Motalebi, Fatemeh; Nascimbeni, Valerio; Pepe, Francesco; Phillips, David F.; Piotto, Giampaolo; Pollacco, Don; Queloz, Didier; Rice, Ken; Sasselov, Dimitar; Segransan, Damien; Sozzetti, Alessandro; Udry, Stephane; Vanderburg, Andrew; Watson, Chris (2016)
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 152, Issue 6, article id. 204 [ADS] -
An Earth-sized exoplanet with a Mercury-like composition
Santerne, A.; Brugger, B.; Armstrong, D. J.; Adibekyan, V.; Lillo-Box, J.; Gosselin, H.; Aguichine, A.; Almenara, J. -M.; Barrado, D.; Barros, S. C. C.; Bayliss, D.; Boisse, I.; Bonomo, A. S.; Bouchy, F.; Brown, D. J. A.; Deleuil, M.; Delgado Mena, E.; Demangeon, O.; Díaz, R. F.; Doyle, A. Dumusque, X.; Faedi, F.; Faria, J. P.; Figueira, P.; Foxell, E.; Giles, H.; Hébrard, G.; Hojjatpanah, S.; Hobson, M.; Jackman, J.; King, G.; Kirk, J.; Lam, K. W. F.; Ligi, R.; Lovis, C.; Louden, T.; McCormac, J.; Mousis, O.; Neal, J. J.; Osborn, H. P.; Pepe, F.; Pollacco, D.; Santos, N. C.; Sousa, S. G.; Udry, S.; Vigan, A. (2018)
Nature Astronomy, Volume 2, p. 393-400 [ADS] -
Validation and Initial Characterization of the Long-period Planet Kepler-1654 b
Beichman, C. A.; Giles, H. A. C.; Akeson, R.; Ciardi, D.; Christiansen, J.; Isaacson, H.; Marcy, G. M.; Sinukoff, E.; Greene, T.; Fortney, J. J.; Crossfield, I.; Hu, R.; Howard, A. W.; Petigura, E. A.; Knutson, H. A. (2018)
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 155, Issue 4, article id. 158 [ADS] -
K2-140b - an eccentric 6.57 d transiting hot Jupiter in Virgo
Giles, H. A. C.; Bayliss, D.; Espinoza, N.; Brahm, R.; Blanco-Cuaresma, S.; Shporer, A.; Armstrong, D.; Lovis, C.; Udry, S.; Bouchy, F.; Marmier, M.; Jordán, A.; Bento, J.; Collier Cameron, A.; Sefako, R.; Cochran, W. D.; Rojas, F.; Rabus, M.; Jenkins, J. S.; Jones, M. Pantoja, B.; Soto, M.; Jensen-Clem, R.; Duev, D. A.; Salama, M.; Riddle, R.; Baranec, C.; Law, N. M. (2018)
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 475, Issue 2, p.1809-1818 [ADS] -
Transiting planet candidate from K2 with the longest period
Giles, H. A. C.; Osborn, H. P.; Blanco-Cuaresma, S.; Lovis, C.; Bayliss, D.; Eggenberger, P.; Collier Cameron, A.; Kristiansen, M. H.; Turner, O.; Bouchy, F.; Udry, S. (2018)
Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 615, id.L13 [ADS] -
A Jovian planet in an eccentric 11.5 day orbit around HD 1397 discovered by TESS
Nielsen, L. D.; Bouchy, F.; Turner, O.; Giles, H.; Mascareño, A. Suárez; Lovis, C.; Marmier, M.; Pepe, F.; Ségransan, D.; Udry, S.; Otegi, J. F.; Ottoni, G.; Stalport, M.; Ricker, G.; Vanderspek, R.; Latham, D. W.; Seager, S.; Winn, J. N.; Jenkins, J. M.; Kane, S. R. Wittenmyer, R. A.; Bowler, B.; Crossfield, I.; Horner, J.; Kielkopf, J.; Morton, T.; Plavchan, P.; Tinney, C. G.; Zhang, Hui; Wright, D. J.; Mengel, M. W.; Clark, J. T.; Okumura, J.; Addison, B.; Caldwell, D. A.; Cartwright, S. M.; Collins, K. A.; Francis, J.; Guerrero, N.; Huang, C. X.; Matthews, E. C.; Pepper, J.; Rose, M.; Villaseñor, J.; Wohler, B.; Stassun, K.; Howell, S.; Ciardi, D.; Gonzales, E.; Matson, R.; Beichman, C.; Schlieder, J. (2019)
Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 623, id.A100 [ADS] -
HD 213885b: a transiting 1-d-period super-Earth with an Earth-like composition around a bright (V = 7.9) star unveiled by TESS
Espinoza, Néstor; Brahm, Rafael; Henning, Thomas; Jordán, Andrés; Dorn, Caroline; Rojas, Felipe; Sarkis, Paula; Kossakowski, Diana; Schlecker, Martin; Díaz, Matías R.; Jenkins, James S.; Aguilera-Gomez, Claudia; Jenkins, Jon M.; Twicken, Joseph D.; Collins, Karen A.; Lissauer, Jack; Armstrong, David J.; Adibekyan, Vardan; Barrado, David; Barros, Susana C. C. Battley, Matthew; Bayliss, Daniel; Bouchy, François; Bryant, Edward M.; Cooke, Benjamin F.; Demangeon, Olivier D. S.; Dumusque, Xavier; Figueira, Pedro; Giles, Helen; Lillo-Box, Jorge; Lovis, Christophe; Nielsen, Louise D.; Pepe, Francesco; Pollacco, Don; Santos, Nuno C.; Sousa, Sergio G.; Udry, Stéphane; Wheatley, Peter J.; Turner, Oliver; Marmier, Maxime; Ségransan, Damien; Ricker, George; Latham, David; Seager, Sara; Winn, Joshua N.; Kielkopf, John F.; Hart, Rhodes; Wingham, Geof; Jensen, Eric L. N.; Hełminiak, Krzysztof G.; Tokovinin, A.; Briceño, C.; Ziegler, Carl; Law, Nicholas M.; Mann, Andrew W.; Daylan, Tansu; Doty, John P.; Guerrero, Natalia; Boyd, Patricia; Crossfield, Ian; Morris, Robert L.; Henze, Christopher E.; Chacon, Aaron Dean (2020)
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 491, Issue 2, p.2982-2999 [ADS]