Federica Chiti
Astronomy Graduate Student
Institute for Astronomy
University of Hawai'i
Email: fchiti@hawaii.edu
Scroll DownAbout Me
I am a second-year astronomy graduate student at the
Institute for Astronomy (IfA) at the
University of Hawai'i in Manoa. I am interested in the formation and evolution of stars.
As a first-year graduate student at the IfA, I worked with
Adwin Boogert and used NASA IRTF/iSHELL high-resolution spectroscopy to study the chemical composition of protoplanetary disks. I am currently working with
Jennifer van Saders on
developing stellar rotation-based tools to infer precise ages for old (> 4 Gyr) K and M type stars.
I obtained my BSc (Hons) in Physics with Astrophysics in 2021 from the University of Dundee, where I worked with Dr Aurora Sicilia-Aguilar.
My Research
Cormarck Scholarship: the Sun
I developed a Python code to investigate the effect of electric current on magnetic field structures in the solar corona. You can read my interview for the RSE here. A poster is available at this link.
Carnegie Scholarship: Hot Jupiters
I tested the potentiality of spectrophotometry for transiting planet detection and the study of their atmospheres. I presented my results at the Early Career Poster Exhibition at the RAS; you can read more and view my poster here
Organics in Protplanetary Disks
I used IRTF/iSHELL high-resolution spectroscopy to study the chemical composition of protoplanetary disks. I presented my work at the 241st AAS meeting in Seattle. You can view my poster here
Teaching
ASTR 301 Observational Astronomy Projects, 2022, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Honolulu, US
ASTR 300 L Observational Astronomy and Laboratory, 2021, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Honolulu, US
EG21007 Introduction to Programming, 2018-2020, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
Outreach
A list of the outreach events I have been involved in can be found on my CV.
Beyond the outreach that graduate students do as part of the IfA community, I am a mentor for Maunakea Scholars , a program aimed at public high schools in Hawai'i, which imparts knowledge to students about composing telescope proposals and gives them the chance to collect data for their own astrophysics project.
I am currently mentoring Jahnea Ordona, a student from Kealakehe Highschool in Kona, Island of Hawai'i, who is passionate about searching for life outside our planet. Using CHFT spectral data, we are working on detecting potential biosignatures on Europa.