About

Andrew Vanderburg is an Assistant Professor of Astronomy and the Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. His research focuses on studying exoplanets, which are planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. He is interested in developing cutting-edge techniques and methods to discover new planets outside of our solar system and in studying the detailed properties of these planets. His work aims to answer questions such as whether the planets orbiting other stars throughout the galaxy are similar to the worlds in our Solar System and whether any of these planets could be hospitable to life like Earth.

Research topics

• Physics
• Astronomy
• Computer Science
• Astrophysics
• Mathematics
• Astrobiology

Selected publications

• The TESS Objects of Interest Catalog from the TESS Prime Mission

  The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · 2021 · 300 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Physics
  • Astronomy

  We present 2241 exoplanet candidates identified with data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) during its 2 yr Prime Mission. We list these candidates in the TESS Objects of Interest (TOI) Catalog, which includes both new planet candidates found by TESS and previously known planets recovered by TESS observations. We describe the process used to identify TOIs, investigate the characteristics of the new planet candidates, and discuss some notable TESS planet discoveries. The TOI catalog includes an unprecedented number of small planet candidates around nearby bright stars, which are well suited for detailed follow-up observations. The TESS data products for the Prime Mission (sectors 1-26), including the TOI catalog, light curves, full-frame images, and target pixel files, are publicly available at the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes.

  DOI

• When Do Stalled Stars Resume Spinning Down? Advancing Gyrochronology with Ruprecht 147

  The Astrophysical Journal · 2020 · 123 citations

  • Physics
  • Astrophysics
  • Astronomy

  Recent measurements of rotation periods () in the benchmark open clusters Praesepe (670 Myr), NGC 6811 (1 Gyr), and NGC 752 (1.4 Gyr) demonstrate that, after converging onto a tight sequence of slowly rotating stars in mass-period space, stars temporarily stop spinning down. These data also show that the duration of this epoch of stalled spin-down increases toward lower masses. To determine when stalled stars resume spinning down, we use data from the K2 mission and the Palomar Transient Factory to measure for 58 dwarf members of the 2.7 Gyr old cluster Ruprecht 147, 39 of which satisfy our criteria designed to remove short-period or near-equal-mass binaries. Combined with the Kepler data for the approximately coeval cluster NGC 6819 (30 stars with M ∗ > 0.85, our new measurements more than double the number of ≈2.5 Gyr benchmark rotators and extend this sample down to ≈0.55. The slowly rotating sequence for this joint sample appears relatively flat (22 ± 2 days) compared to sequences for younger clusters. This sequence also intersects the Kepler intermediate-period gap, demonstrating that this gap was not created by a lull in star formation. We calculate the time at which stars resume spinning down and find that 0.55 stars remain stalled for at least 1.3 Gyr. To accurately age-date low-mass stars in the field, gyrochronology formulae must be modified to account for this stalling timescale. Empirically tuning a core-envelope coupling model with open cluster data can account for most of the apparent stalling effect. However, alternative explanations, e.g., a temporary reduction in the magnetic braking torque, cannot yet be ruled out.

  DOI

• The First Habitable-zone Earth-sized Planet from TESS. I. Validation of the TOI-700 System

  The Astronomical Journal · 2020 · 92 citations

  • Physics
  • Astronomy
  • Astrobiology

  We present the discovery and validation of a three-planet system orbiting the nearby (31.1 pc) M2 dwarf star TOI-700 (TIC 150428135). TOI-700 lies in the TESS continuous viewing zone in the Southern Ecliptic Hemisphere; observations spanning 11 sectors reveal three planets with radii ranging from 1 R ⊕ to 2.6 R ⊕ and orbital periods ranging from 9.98 to 37.43 days. Ground-based follow-up combined with diagnostic vetting and validation tests enables us to rule out common astrophysical false-positive scenarios and validate the system of planets. The outermost planet, TOI-700 d, has a radius of 1.19 ± 0.11 R ⊕ and resides within a conservative estimate of the host star's habitable zone, where it receives a flux from its star that is approximately 86% of Earth's insolation. In contrast to some other low-mass stars that host Earth-sized planets in their habitable zones, TOI-700 exhibits low levels of stellar activity, presenting a valuable opportunity to study potentially rocky planets over a wide range of conditions affecting atmospheric escape. While atmospheric characterization of TOI-700 d with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be challenging, the larger sub-Neptune, TOI-700 c (R = 2.63 R ⊕), will be an excellent target for JWST and future space-based observatories. TESS is scheduled to once again observe the Southern Hemisphere, and it will monitor TOI-700 for an additional 11 sectors in its extended mission. These observations should allow further constraints on the known planet parameters and searches for additional planets and transit timing variations in the system.

  DOI

• Photometry of 10 Million Stars from the First Two Years of TESS Full Frame Images: Part I

  Research Notes of the AAS · 2020 · 260 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Astronomy
  • Physics

  Abstract The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is the first high-precision full-sky photometric survey in space. We extracted light curves from a magnitude limited set of stars and other stationary luminous objects from the TESS Full Frame Images using the MIT Quick Look Pipeline. Here, we describe the techniques used to create light curves.

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• David W. Latham

  302 shared

• Sara Seager

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  228 shared

• David R. Ciardi

  NASA Exoplanet Science Institute

  166 shared

• Andrew W. Mann

  151 shared

• Jon M. Jenkins

  147 shared

• G. Ricker

  146 shared

• Lars A. Buchhave

  138 shared

• Joshua N. Winn

  Princeton University

  136 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Astronomy

  Harvard University

  2005

• B.A., Physics

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  1999

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