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<h1>Adina D. Feinstein</h1>
<p class="lead">Assistant Professor in Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University</p>
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<ul class="nav">
<li><a href="#about">About Me</a></li>
<li><a href="#research">Research</a>
<!--<ul class="nav">
<li><a href="#research_1">(Exo)Planetary Science at MSU</a></li>
</ul>-->
</li>
<li><a href="#members">Group Members</a></li>
<li><a href="#news">Group News</a></li>
<li><a href="#positions">Available Positions</a>
<ul class="nav">
<li><a href="#undergrad">Undergraduate</a></li>
<li><a href="#grad">Graduate</a></li>
<li><a href="#postdoc">Postdoctoral</a></li>
</ul>
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<li><a href="#resources">Application Resources</a></li>
<li><a href="#teaching">Teaching</a>
<li><a href="#software">Software</a>
<li><a href="#summaries">Paper Summaries</a>
<ul class="nav">
<li><a href="#atlas">3I/ATLAS in TESS</a></li>
<li><a href="#flare_evolution">Monitoring flare evolution</a></li>
<li><a href="#uv_planets">Young planets in the UV</a></li>
<li><a href="#wasp_39">WASP-39b with JWST</a></li>
<li><a href="#au_mic_fuv">AU Mic in the Far-UV</a></li>
<li><a href="#criticality">Self Organized Criticality</a></li>
<li><a href="#halpha_transit">H-alpha in a 23 Myr Planet</a></li>
<li><a href="#cnn">Flare statistics with CNNs</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#presentations">Presentations</a>
<ul class="nav">
<li><a href="#posters">Poster Gallery</a></li>
<li><a href="#talks">Recorded Talks</a></li>
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<li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>
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<h2 class="dark-text">Welcome<hr></h2>
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<p>
Hi! I'm Adina Feinstein. I am an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University (MSU) in the
<a href="https://pa.msu.edu/" target="_blank">Department of Physics and Astronomy</a>.
Before joining the faculty at MSU, I was a
<a href="https://www.stsci.edu/stsci-research/fellowships/nasa-hubble-fellowship-program/2023-nhfp-fellows" target="_blank">NASA Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow</a>
at the University of Colorado Boulder (2023-2024) and Michigan State University (2024-2025).
Prior to that, I was an NSF Graduate Research Fellow at the
<a href="https://astrophysics.uchicago.edu/">University of Chicago</a> (2019-2023).
My research focuses on understanding how stellar activity
shapes the evolution of planets and planetary atmospheres within the first few hundred
million years after formation.
</p>
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<hr>
<p>
Here are some quick links that may be useful:
<li>My CV can be downloaded <a href="files/Feinstein_CV.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.</li>
<li>My GitHub page can be found <a href="https://github.com/afeinstein20" target="_blank">here</a>.</li>
<li>You can email me at <a href="mailto:adina@msu.edu">adina [at] msu [dot] edu</a>.</li>
<li>Selected talk slides can be found on my <a href="https://speakerdeck.com/afeinstein20" target="_blank">SpeakerDeck profile</a>.</li>
</p>
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<section id="about" class="section">
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<div class="col-md-12 left-align">
<h2 class="dark-text">About Me<hr></h2>
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<p>
I received by B.S. in Astrophysics and a minor in English from Tufts University in 2018.
I applied to 15 Ph.D. programs as a senior undergraduate student and was not admitted to any.
Instead, I joined the one-year Masters Program in Physical Sciences program at the University of Chicago.
I graduated with my M.S. in 2019 before joining the Ph.D. program at the University of Chicago in the
Department in Astronomy and Astrophysics. I successfully defended my Ph.D. thesis in March, 2023. From
2023 - 2024, I was a NASA Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow at the
<a href="https://lasp.colorado.edu/" target="_blank">Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics</a>
at the University of Colorado Boulder.
I was hired as an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University in Spring 2024, but deferred for a year.
Thanks to the flexibility of the NASA Sagan Fellowship, I
was able to move my second year of funding to my current institution. In this time, I was able to grow my
group and get settled in my new department before taking on all of the resonsibilities of a professor.
</p>
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<section id="research" class="section">
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<div class="col-md-12 left-align">
<h2 class="dark-text">Research Interests<hr></h2>
</div>
<!-- end col -->
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<div class="col-md-12">
<p>I am an observational astronomer. My research focuses on understanding
the early evolution of young (< 500 Myr) stellar and planetary systems,
and how stellar activity will shape the evolution of exoplanet atmospheres.
I use a variety of techniques to approach answering scientific questions
relating to this field. My research highlights the power of conducting
multi-wavelength campaigns using ground- and space-based observations
from the X-ray through the infrared to shed light on how stars and
exoplanets evolve.
</div>
<hr>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12 left-align">
<h4>Exoplanet Science<hr></h4>
</div>
</div>
<div class="col-md-12">
<p>
While planets with radii between Earth and Neptune are ubiquitous, we
do not have a direct analog in our own Solar System. This type of exoplanet
is often referred to as a "sub-Neptune." One way in which we try to understand
what these planets are like is by studying their atmospheres via transmission
spectroscopy. To do this, we observe a transit at multiple wavelengths to look for
absorption from specific molecular species which may be present in the atmosphere.
Atmospheric observations of <i>mature</i> sub-Neptunes (t<sub>age</sub> > 1 Gyr)
have revealed statistically featureless transmission spectra, meaning we cannot
directly detect any atmospheric species. However <i>young</i> sub-Neptunes
(t<sub>age</sub> < 300 Myr), which have inflated radii compared to their mature
counterparts, may be more favorable targets for disentangling their atmospheric
compositions. I am the <b>PI of 257 hours of JWST time</b> (GO 5311, 5959, 8597) which will study the atmospheric
composition of nine young sub-Neptunes using a combination of NIRISS/SOSS, NIRCam/F322W2/F444W,
and NIRSpec/G395H. Through these programs, I aim to answer questions about (i) the compostion
of sub-Neptune atmospheres; (ii) how the atmospheric properties may evolve in time; and (iii) how
homoegeneity of sub-Neptune atmospheric compositions within the same and differing systems.
</p>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12 left-align">
<h4>Stellar Astrophysics<hr></h4>
</div>
</div>
<div class="col-md-12">
<p>
Young stars are known to have heightened magnetic activity compared to main sequence stars.
This activity can manifest in a variety of ways, such as having more starspots on the stellar surface
or exhibiting higher rates of stellar flares and coronal mass ejections. We can study
these events very well on the Sun, and see how the occurrence rate and strength of stellar flares
changes throughout the solar cycle. However, it is harder to understand the mechanisms driving
stellar flares on other stars since they cannot be resolved. My research focuses on using a combination
of photometry and spectroscopy to understand flare statistics across thousands of stars and
determine accurate parameters (e.g., energies, velocities, temperatures) of flares. Through this
multi-prong approach, I am to provide a wholistic view of flare physics on stars other than the Sun.
</p>
</div>
<hr>
<!-- <div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12 left-align">
<h4 id="research_1">(Exo)Planetary Science at Michigan State University<hr></h4>
</div>
</div>
<div class="col-md-12">
<p>
Michigan State Uniersity (MSU) hosts a thriving community of planetary and exoplanetary
scientists conducting research linking our understanding of the solar system to exoplanetary
systems. Relevant faculty are located across the departments of Physics & Astronomy and
Earth and Environmental Sciences. Reflecting the exoplanetary community's priority for multi-wavelength
observations to fully characterize exoplanets and their host stars, we have expertise across
the entire electromagnetic spectrum including: X-ray (<a href="https://web.pa.msu.edu/people/strader/research.html" target="_blank">Jay Strader</a>),
ultraviolet, optical/near-infrared (<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/josepherodriguezjr/" target="_blank">Joey Rodriguez</a>)
and radio (<a href="https://web.pa.msu.edu/people/chomiuk/index.html" target="_blank">Laura Chomiuk</a>). Observational faculty expertise
includes detection and characterization of new
exoplanetary systems and interstellar objects (<a href="https://www.darrylseligman.com/" target="_blank">Darryl Seligman</a>), atmospheric
characterization planets, and planetary auroral emission.
Additionally, we have a focused expertise on interior structure including
early Solar System planetary formation and differentiation (<a href="https://www.sethajacobson.com/" target="_blank">Seth Jacobson</a>), exoplanetary
volcanism and tidal heating (Darryl Seligman), computational fluid dynamics of icy satellites
and terrestrial worlds (<a href="https://sites.google.com/msu.edu/allenmc/home" target="_blank">Allen McNamara</a>),
and high-pressure laboratory experiments relevant to the
past and present compositions of bodies ranging from small differentiated planetesimals to super-Earth
exoplanets (<a href="https://sukidorfman.rocks/vita/" target="_blank">Susannah Dorfman</a>). Furthermore, faculty at
MSU conduct astrobiology related research on
topics including microbial life in subsurface oceans relevant to Galilean and Saturnian satellites (<a href="https://www.mattschrenklab.com/" target="_blank">Matt Schrenk</a>),
extremophile ecology (<a href="https://moranlabbiogeochemistry.weebly.com/" target="_blank">Jim Moran</a>),
and microbial physiology (<a href="https://www.electromicrobiology.org/people/" target="_blank">Annette Row</a>).
</p>
</div>
</section> -->
<!-- end section -->
<section id="members" class="section">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12 left-align">
<h2 class="dark-text">Group Members<hr></h2>
</div>
</div>
<div class="col-md-12">
<ul>
<li><a href="https://mm-murphy.github.io/" target="_blank">Matthew Murphy</a> (2025-) - Postdoctoral Researcher at MSU. Ph.D.
earned from the University of Arizona.</li>
<li><a href="https://sydneypetz.com/" target="_blank">Sydney Petz</a> (2025-) - Graduate student at MSU</li>
<li><a href="https://m-schochet.github.io/" target="_blank"> Meir Schochet</a> (2025-) - Graduate student at MSU</li>
<li><a href="https://adalyn-gibson.github.io/" target="_blank">Adalyn Gibson</a> (2024-) - Undergraduate at CU Boulder</li>
<li>Ryan Groneck (2025-) - Undergraduate at MSU</li>
<li>Tatianna Jefferson (Summer 2025) - Undergraduate at MSU</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="col-md-6">
<b>Summer of 2025 (pictured left to right): Me, Ryan Groneck, Adalyn Gibson, Tatianna Jefferson, Meir Schochet</b>
</div>
<div class="col-md-6">
<a href="files/group_summer2025.jpg" data-rel="prettyPhoto"><img src="files/group_summer2025.jpg" alt="" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail"></a>
</div>
<!--<div class="col-md-4">
<a href="files/leaf_headshot.jpg" data-rel="prettyPhoto"><img src="files/leaf_headshot.jpg" alt="" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail"></a>
<p></p>
</div>-->
</section>
<!-- end section -->
<section id="news" class="section">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12 left-align">
<h2 class="dark-text">Group News<hr></h2>
</div>
</div>
<div class="col-md-12">
<p>
<b>April 21, 2026</b> - Ryan Groneck won first place in the physical sciences category for his poster at the
<a href="https://urca.msu.edu/forums/uuraf-2026" target="_blank">MSU University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum</a>!
<br>
<b>April 12, 2026</b> - Sydney Petz was awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!
<br>
<b>March 20, 2026</b> - Adalyn Gibson was awarded the MSU University Distinguished Fellowship, which
will support her first year in the MSU PhD program!
<br>
<b>March 13, 2026</b> - Dr. Matthew Murphy was awarded a JWST Cycle 5 GO Program!
You can read more about his program <a href="https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-execution/program-information?id=10498" target="_blank">here</a>.
</p>
</div>
</section>
<!-- end section -->
<section id="positions" class="section">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12 left-align">
<h2 class="dark-text">Available Positions<hr></h2>
</div>
<!-- end col -->
</div>
<!-- end row -->
<p>Please don't hesitate to reach out if you
have questions about any of the available positions (adina [at] msu [dot] edu).
</p>
<hr>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12">
<h4 id="undergrad">Undergraduate Students</h4>
<p>Unfortunately, I am unable to take any more undergraduate researchers
at this time. Undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing an
undergraduate thesis with me should reach out at the beginning of their
junior year at the latest.
</p>
<!--
<p>
Undergraduate students at MSU are welcome to contact me about
potential research opportunities. In the contact email, interested
undergraduate students should note the following:
<li>An unofficial transcript</li>
<li>A brief description* describing why you want to
pursue research in astronomy and your career goals</li>
<li> A brief description* describing your interest in
stars and/or exoplanets, and what you hope to learn from a
research project</li>
<li>A brief description* of previous research experience (if applicable)</li>
<br>
Undergraduate students are welcome to contact me at any point throughout
the academic year. However, to secure potential funding for the academic year
and/or the summer, it would be best to reach out during the Fall semester.
<br>
* A brief description = 3-4 sentences.
<br>
<div class="text-center">
<a href="mailto:adina@msu.edu" target="_blank" class="btn btn-info">
Email me about an undergraduate research position</a>
</div>
</p>
-->
</div>
<!-- end col -->
</div>
<hr>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12">
<h4 id="grad">Graduate Students</h4>
<p>
Unfortunately, I am unable to take any more graduate student researchers at this time.
</p>
<!--
<p>
I am looking to recruit one or two new graduate students during the
2025 application cycle. If you are interested in pursuing stellar and/or
exoplanet research for your Ph.D., I would encourage you to apply! For inquiries
about potential projects, please email me (adina [at] msu [dot] edu) <b>before</b>
December 9, 2024.
</p>
<div class="text-center">
<a href="https://astro.natsci.msu.edu/graduate/how-to-apply.aspx" target="_blank" class="btn btn-info">
Apply for the PhD Program at MSU</a>
</div>
<p>
The application for a the Ph.D. program in Astrophysics and Astronomy consists
of six parts:
<li>Online application form</li>
<li>Academic records (unofficial transcripts are acceptable)</li>
<li>Curriculum Vitae (including publications, talks, and/or posters)</li>
<li>Personal statement</li>
<li>Academic statement</li>
<li>Three letters of recommendation</li>
For more information about what should be included in the personal and
academic statements, please see our
<a href="https://astro.natsci.msu.edu/graduate/how-to-apply.aspx" target="_blank">department website</a>.
Our website includes several questions which should be addressed in each statement.
</p>
-->
<hr>
<h5>Graduate School Application Example</h5>
<p>
Applying to graduate school can be challenging to navigate. I seek to make this process
more transparent and equitable to undergraduate students who wish to pursue a Ph.D.
in astronomy/astrophysics. Our
<a href="https://astro.natsci.msu.edu/graduate/how-to-apply.aspx" target="_blank">department website</a>
hosts a number of great questions to answer when applying to our program, as well as other
Ph.D. programs.
</div>
</div>
<!-- end row -->
<hr>
<div class="row">
<!-- SAVE FOR GROUP HEADSHOTS
<div class="col-md-4">
<img src="files/posters/plugin1.png" alt="" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail">
<h4>Plugin name #1</h4>
<p>Lorem the It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted.. Please read more about WordPress here.</p>
</div>
end col -->
<div class="col-md-12">
<h4 id="postdoc">Postdoctoral Researchers</h4>
<p>Unfortunately, I do not have any postdoctoral positions available at this time.
However, if you are interested in joining the MSU community, I am always happy to
talk about available fellowships at the university and national levels.
</p>
<!--
<p>Applications are invited for a postdoctoral position at Michigan State
University working with Prof. Adina Feinstein on infrared transmission spectra
of young planet atmospheres. This study is funded by the JWST KRONOS
(Keys to Revealing the Origin and Nature Of sub-neptune Systems) program -
a team of US and international collaborators focused on understanding how
planetary atmospheres evolve. The objective of the study will be to reduce
and analyze JWST and complimentary ground-based transit observations of
planets with ages between 23-200 Myr to determine the near-primordial
composition of exoplanet atmospheres. We encourage applications from
candidates with diverse expertise, including - but not limited to -
studies of exoplanet atmospheres, starspot properties, and/or stellar
flares, and reduction or analysis of transit observations at any wavelength
(including optical, UV, and IR).
</p>
<p>
<b>Application Requirements:</b><br>
- One page cover letter<br>
- CV. Be sure to highlight leadership experience and community service, in addition to academic record<br>
- Brief statement of research interests (3 pages, including figures and excluding references)<br>
- Contact information for 3 peoeple who will provide reference letters upon request<br>
</p>
<p>
<b>Deadline: January 23, 2025.</b>
</p>
<div class="text-center">
<a href="https://careers.msu.edu/en-us/job/521025/research-associatefixed-term" class="btn btn-info" target="_blank">
Apply for the Postdoctoral Position</a>
</div>
-->
</div>
</div>
<!-- end row -->
</section>
<!-- end section -->
</section>
<!-- end section -->
<section id="resources" class="section">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12 left-align">
<h2 class="dark-text">Application Resources<hr></h2>
</div>
<!-- end col -->
</div>
<!-- end row -->
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12">
<p>
<b>Graduate School Application (2018)</b> - As an additional example of ways to go abour writing the academic or research
statement, here is an example of one of <a href="applications/grad_research_statement.pdf" target="_blank">my own</a> from 2018.
</p>
<hr>
<p>
<b>NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Application (2018)<b> -
</p>
<hr>
<p>
<b>Postdoctoral Research Applications (2022)</b> - I seek to make the postdoctoral application process more transparent and equitable to graduate students
who wish to continue pursuing a career in academia. Below, I link a handful of my own applications to various
fellowships, with the hopes that these examples can act as guides to those applying to postdoctoral positions.
</p>
<p>
Please do not rehost or redistribute these application materials, in whole or in part, without the
express permission of the original author. You are welcome to share links to the original application bank.
Reading old applications is useful for understanding how to write clearly and persuasively, but it is
<b>unacceptable to copy text, figures, or research project ideas</b>. The content of your application must be original.
</p>
<p>
These applications do not necessarily represent the full breadth of research areas supported by the
fellowship program or the only possible successful strategies.
</p>
<table>
<tr>
<td><b>Fellowship Name</b></td>
<td><b>Materials</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.simonsfoundation.org/simons-society-of-fellows/nominations/" target="_blank">Simons Society of Fellows (Columbia University)</a></td>
<td><a href="applications/simons_fellowship.pdf" target="_blank">All application materials</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://physics.mit.edu/research/pappalardo-fellowships-in-physics/" target="_blank">MIT Pappalardo Fellowship</a></td>
<td><a href="applications/pappalardo_fellowship.pdf" target="_blank">All application materials</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.stsci.edu/stsci-research/fellowships/nasa-hubble-fellowship-program" target="_blank">NASA Hubble Fellowship Program</a></td>
<td><a href="applications/hubble_fellowship.pdf" target="_blank">All application materials</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.hsfoundation.org/programs/science/51-pegasi-b-fellowship/" target="_blank">51 Pegasi b Fellowship</a></td>
<td><a href="applications/adina_feinstein_previousresearch.pdf" target="_blank">Previous work</a><br>
<a href="applications/adina_feinstein_researchproposal.pdf" target="_blank">Research proposal</a><br>
<a href="applications/adina_feinstein_deistatement.pdf" target="_blank">DEI statement</a>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<!--<hr>
<br>Faculty Application (2023)
-->
</div>
</div>
<!-- end row -->
</section>
<section id="teaching" class="section">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12 left-align">
<h2 class="dark-text">Teaching<hr></h2>
</div>
<p>Fall 2025: I am in the process of developing a new graduate level
exoplanet and observational astronomy course. This course is meant
as an introduction to exoplanet astronomy and modern observational
techniques. From the exoplanet perspective, we will focus on detection
techniques and atmospheric characterization. From the observational
techniques perspective, we will focus on the optical and near-infrared,
with some coverage on X-ray, ultraviolet, and radio wavelengths. This
course is intended to provide breadth and equip students with technical
skills around how to observe and reduce observations and a skillset
to evaluate and critique exoplanet-related results.
</p>
<p>As part of my own philosophy on open science, I will be adding the
slides from this class to my Speaker Deck profile and listing those
links here. If you are interested in adopting these slides for your
own course, you are welcome to do so with proper credit. I do not divide
slides by course date, but rather by topic. Here are the most recent slides
per each topic:
</p>
<ul>
<li>1. <a href="https://speakerdeck.com/afeinstein20/exo-obs-course-planet-formation-disks-and-radio-observations" target="_blank">Planet Formation and Radio Astronomy</a></li>
<li>2. <a href="https://speakerdeck.com/afeinstein20/exo-obs-course-spectroscopy-plus-radial-velocity-technique" target="_blank">Spectroscopy and Radial Velocity Measurements</a></li>
<li>3. <a href="https://speakerdeck.com/afeinstein20/exo-obs-course-photometry-and-transits" target="_blank">Photometry and Transits</a></li>
<li>4. <a href="https://speakerdeck.com/afeinstein20/exo-obs-course-key-observational-concepts-ao-and-direct-imaging" target="_blank">Key Observational Concepts and Adaptive Optics Imaging</a></li>
<li>5. How to Write Observing Proposals</li>
<li>6. <a href="https://speakerdeck.com/afeinstein20/exo-obs-course-exoplanet-atmospheres" target="_blank">Exoplanet Atmospheres</a></li>
<li>7. <a href="https://speakerdeck.com/afeinstein20/x-ray-science-and-atmospheric-escape" target="_blank">UV/X-ray Astronomy and Atmospheric Escape</a></li>
<li>8. <a href="https://speakerdeck.com/afeinstein20/exo-obs-course-microlensing" target="_blank">Other Exoplanet Detection Techniques</a></li>
</ul>
<p>If you are interested in running a similar course at your university, I am
happy to discuss further and share my course schedule and problem sets via email.
I would like to thank Jacob Bean, Joshua Pepper, Jay Strader, and Luis Welbanks for providing
their course materials, from which I drew inspiration.
</p>
</div>
</section>
<section id="software" class="section">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12 left-align">
<h2 class="dark-text">Software Packages<hr></h2>
</div>
<p>
I am a strong advocate for open and reproducible science.
One way in which I support this is by making all code I develop
for any research project publicly available on
<a href="https://github.com/afeinstein20" target="_blank">GitHub</a>.
For code that may be of particular interest or use to the community, I
bundle it up into a neat little pip installable Python package.
Below are the summaries of my current pip installable packages.
</p>
<p>
<pre class="brush: html; highlight: [2,4]">
pip install eleanor
</pre>
eleanor is a Python package used to extract systematic-corrected light curves
from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
Full-Frame Images (FFIs). In its simplest form, eleanor takes a
TESS Input Catalog (TIC) ID, a Gaia source ID, or Ra, Dec coordinates of a star
and returns, as a single object, and light curve and accompanying target pixel
data. eleanor is highly flexible and customizable, allowing it to be used to
study exoplanet astronomy, stellar astrophysics, and galactic/extragalactic
astronomy. The full documentation for eleanor can be found
<a target="_blank" href="https://adina.feinste.in/eleanor/">here</a>.
</p>
<p>
<pre class="brush: html; highlight: [2,4]">
pip install stella
</pre>
The purpose of stella is to identify flares in TESS short-cadence data with
a convolutional neural network (CNN). In its simplest form, stella takes a
pre-trained CNN (details provided in Feinstein et al. (submitted)) and a
light curve (time, flux, and flux error) and returns a probability light
curve. The cadences in the probability light curve are values between 0 and
1, where 1 means the CNN finds a flare there. Users also have the ability
the train their own customized CNN architecture. The full documentation for stella can be
found <a target="_blank" href="https://adina.feinste.in/stella/">here</a>.
</p>
</section>
<section id="summaries" class="section">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12 left-align">
<h2 class="dark-text">Paper Summaries<hr></h2>
<p>
It's important to be able to accurately and efficiently communicate
scientific results. As such, I have written summaries
of my own first-author publications, similarly to
<a href="https://astrobites.org/" target="_blank">astrobites</a>.
Below are summaries for several of my own first author publications.
</p>
</div>
<!-- end col -->
</div>
<!-- end row -->
<hr>
<div class="row">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12">
<h4 id="uv_planets">Precovery Observations of 3I/ATLAS in TESS Suggests Distant Activity</h4>
<p>
3I/ATLAS is the third macroscopic interstellar object detected traversing the Solar System.
Since its initial discovery on UT 01 July 2025, hundreds of hours on a range of observational
facilities have been dedicated to measure the physical properties of this object. These
observations have provided astrometry to refine the orbital solution, photometry to measure
the color, a rotation period and secular light curve, and spectroscopy to characterize the
composition of the coma. Here, we report precovery photometry of 3I/ATLAS as observed with
NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). 3I/ATLAS was observed nearly continuously
by TESS from UT 07 May 2025 to 02 June 2025. We use the shift-stack method to create deep
stack images to recover the object. These composite images reveal that 3I/ATLAS has an average
TESS magnitude of Tmag=19.6±0.1 and an absolute visual magnitude of HV=12.5±0.3, consistent
with magnitudes reported in July 2025, suggesting that 3I/ATLAS may have been active out at
∼6.4 au. Additionally, we extract a ∼20 day light curve and find no statistically significant
evidence of a nucleus rotation period. Nevertheless, the data presented here are some of the
earliest precovery images of 3I/ATLAS and may be used in conjunction with future observations
to constrain the properties of our third interstellar interloper.
<br> <br>
<a href="summaries/atlas.html" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary">Summary in Progress</a>
<a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.21967" target="_blank" class="btn btn-info">Read the Paper</a>
</p>
</div>
<!-- end col -->
</div>
<div class="col-md-12">
<h4 id="flare_evolution">Evolution of Flare Activity in
GKM Stars Younger Than 300 Myr over Five Years of TESS Observations</h4>
<p>
Stellar flares are short-duration (< hours) bursts of radiation associated with surface
magnetic reconnection events. Stellar magnetic activity generally decreases as a function
of both the age and Rossby number, R0, a measure of the relative importance of the
convective and rotational dynamos. Young stars (< 300 Myr) have typically been overlooked
in population-level flare studies due to challenges with flare-detection methods. Here,
we select a sample of stars that are members of 26 nearby moving groups, clusters, or
associations with ages < 300 Myr that have been observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey
Satellite at 2 minute cadence. We identified 26,355 flares originating from 3160 stars
and robustly measured the rotation periods of 1847 stars. We measure and find the flare
frequency distribution slope, α, saturates for all spectral types at α ∼ −0.5 and is
constant over 300 Myr. Additionally, we find that flare rates for stars tage = 50–250 Myr
are saturated below R0 < 0.14, which is consistent with other indicators of magnetic
activity. We find evidence of annual flare rate variability in eleven stars, potentially
correlated with long-term stellar activity cycles. Additionally, we crossmatch our entire
sample with the Galaxy Evolution Explorer and find no correlation between flare rate and
far- and near-ultraviolet flux. Finally, we find the flare rates of planet-hosting stars
are relatively lower than comparable, larger samples of stars, which may have ramifications
for the atmospheric evolution of short-period exoplanets.
<br><br>
The project was written and compiled using
<a href="https://github.com/showyourwork/showyourwork" target="_blank">showyourwork!</a>.
The data and Python scripts for this project can be found on
<a href="https://github.com/afeinstein20/young-stellar-flares" target="_blank">GitHub</a>.
<br> <br>
<a href="summaries/flare_evolution.html" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary">Summary in Progress</a>
<a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ad4edf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-info">Read the Paper</a>
</p>
</div>
<!-- end col -->
</div>
<!-- end row -->
<hr>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12">
<h4 id="uv_planets">HST Far-ultraviolet Transit
Observations of Two Neptune Progenitors Younger than 30 Myr</h4>
<p>
Photoevaporation is believed to dominate the removal of planetary
atmospheres when they are young (< 100 Myr). Signatures of atmospheric
mass-loss can be observed in the ultraviolet (UV) through the near-infrared.
We present Far-UV transit observations of AU Mic b (∼22 Myr) and V1298 Tau c (∼28 Myr)
with the Hubble Space Telescope. We search for evidence of
escaping metals in the C II, Si II, and Si III emission lines and compare
their behavior to tracers of stellar activity. We detect no evidence of
atmospheric mass loss, and place upper limits on the radii of AU Mic b and V1298 Tau c.
<br> <br>
<a href="summaries/uv_planets.html" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary">Summary in Progress</a>
<a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ad35b7" target="_blank" class="btn btn-info">Read the Paper</a>
</p>
</div>
<!-- end col -->
</div>
<!-- end row -->
<hr>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12">
<h4 id="wasp_39">Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRISS</h4>
<p>
The Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b has been the subject of extensive efforts to
determine its atmospheric properties using transmission spectroscopy. However,
these efforts have been hampered by modelling degeneracies between composition
and cloud properties that are caused by limited data quality. Here we
present the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b obtained using the Single-Object
Slitless Spectroscopy (SOSS) mode of the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph
(NIRISS) instrument on the JWST. This spectrum spans 0.6–2.8 μm in wavelength and
shows several water-absorption bands, the potassium resonance doublet and signatures
of clouds. The precision and broad wavelength coverage of NIRISS/SOSS allows us to
break model degeneracies between cloud properties and the atmospheric composition of
WASP-39b, favouring a heavy-element enhancement (‘metallicity’) of about 10–30 times
the solar value, a sub-solar carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio and a solar-to-super-solar
potassium-to-oxygen (K/O) ratio. The observations are also best explained by
wavelength-dependent, non-grey clouds with inhomogeneous coverageof the planet’s terminator.
<br><br>
The code for this project can be found on
<a href="https://github.com/afeinstein20/wasp39b_niriss_paper" target="_blank">GitHub</a>
and the data can be found on
<a href="https://zenodo.org/records/7709712" target="_blank">Zenodo</a>.
<br> <br>
<a href="summaries/wasp39.html" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary">Summary in Progress</a>
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05674-1" target="_blank" class="btn btn-info">Read the Paper</a>
</p>
</div>
<!-- end col -->
</div>
<!-- end row -->
<hr>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12">
<h4 id="au_mic_fuv">AU Microscopii in the Far-UV:
Observations in Quiescence, during Flares,
and Implications for AU Mic b and c</h4>
<p>
High-energy X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) radiation
from young stars impacts planetary atmospheric chemistry
and mass loss. The active ∼22 Myr M dwarf AU Mic hosts two
exoplanets orbiting interior to its debris disk. Therefore, this
system provides a unique opportunity to quantify the effects of
stellar X-ray and UV irradiation on planetary atmospheres as a function
of both age and orbital separation. In this paper, we present over 5 hr
of far-UV (FUV) observations of AU Mic taken with the Cosmic Origins
Spectrograph (COS; 1070-1360 Å) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We
provide an itemization of 120 emission features in the HST/COS FUV spectrum
and quantify the flux contributions from formation temperatures ranging from
10<sup>4</sup> to 10<sup>7</sup> K. We detect 13 flares in the FUV
white-light curve with energies ranging from 10<sup>29</sup> to
10<sup>31</sup> erg s. The majority of the energy in each of these flares
is released from the transition region between the chromosphere and the
corona. There is a 100× increase in flux at continuum wavelengths λ < 1100 Å
in each flare, which may be caused by thermal Bremsstrahlung emission. We
calculate that the baseline atmospheric mass-loss rate for AU Mic b is ∼10<sup>8</sup>
g s<sup>−1</sup>, although this rate can be as high as ∼10<sup>14</sup> g s−1 during flares with
L<sub>flare</sub> >= 10<sup>33</sup> erg s−1. Finally, we model the transmission
spectra for AU Mic b and c with a new panchromatic spectrum of AU Mic and motivate future
JWST observations of these planets.
<br><br>
The code for this project can be found on
<a href="https://github.com/afeinstein20/cos_flares" target="_blank">GitHub</a> and the
data can be found on
<a href="https://zenodo.org/records/6386814" target="_blank">Zenodo</a>.
<br> <br>
<a href="summaries/coolstars21.html" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary">Read the Summary</a>
<a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ac8107" target="_blank" class="btn btn-info">Read the Paper</a>
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<h4 id="criticality">Testing Self-organized Criticality
across the Main Sequence Using Stellar Flares from TESS</h4>
<p>
Self-organized criticality describes a class of dynamical systems that