Jared Kolecki’s Home Page

About Me

I’m currently working as a post-baccalaureate researcher at The Ohio State University, where I completed my B.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics with a minor in Computational and Informational Sciences in December of 2020.

My interests revolve around the field of exoplanets: discovering and characterizing them as well as their host stars. I find it incredibly interesting to imagine how similar or dissimilar other planetary systems are when compared to our own solar system. Quantifying how other solar systems may differ from our own can allow for deeper insight as to what they are actually like, which can produce some very interesting theories and discoveries.

My research thus far has focused on getting metallicity and elemental abundance data for stars using optical and infrared spectroscopy. In this process, I have been developing a framework based around PyMOOGi (Adamow 2017; madamow on Github) which automates much of the work associated with getting abundances. This includes calculating equivalent widths, deriving stellar parameters, getting an appropriate model atmosphere, running MOOG, and finally, calculation of uncertainties. While currently only suitably tested on FGK-dwarfs, my next project involves expanding this functionality to include M-dwarfs, as these cool, dim stars have become prime targets for exoplanet surveys.

Projects

(Links to my publicly available Github projects)

AstroWeb Index: In my limited time in the field of astronomy, I’ve realized, in some cases, how difficult it can be to find things (whether data archives, download links for programs, code tutorials, etc.) if you don’t know exactly where to look. I started compiling these links as I found them for myself, and realized it may be helpful to organize them and make the list public. Thus, my hope is that the AstroWeb Index becomes a valuable landing page for those looking for items for their astrophysical research.

GVOD: A utility for measuring equivalent widths in 1D absorption spectra.

PyKMOD: This is a Kurucz (ATLAS) model atmosphere interpolator for Python, based on the original IDL tool written by Carlos Allende-Prieto. In development is an extension to PyKMOD for use with Phoenix type model atmospheres.

Bookmarks

(External links that, while not strictly academic in nature, are exoplanet-related and relatively interesting)

Centauri Dreams: A blog by author Paul Gilster summarizing academic papers realted to exoplanetary and space-travel-related sciences

NASA’s Eyes On Exoplanets: High-quality 3D CGI visualizations of confirmed exoplanetary systems