David Robert Ciardi
Ciardi at 2009 Kepler Launch
Born (1969-07-17) 17 July 1969
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Wyoming, Boston University
Known forExoplanet science, infrared instrumentation and observations
Scientific career
FieldsAstrophysics
InstitutionsCaltech, University of Florida
ThesisStar Formation in the Filamentary Dark Cloud GF-9: a Multi-Wavelength Intra-Cloud Comparative Study (1997)
Doctoral advisorCharles E. (Chick) Woodward

David Robert Ciardi (born 17 July 1969) is an American astronomer. He received a bachelor's degree in physics and astronomy from Boston University in 1991, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wyoming in 1997.

Career

Ciardi has published refereed journal articles across a wide range of topics, including exoplanets,[1][2][3][4] star formation,[5] interstellar dust,[6] molecular clouds,[7] and evolved stars.[8][9] His observations of Vega using long-baseline interferometry with the Palomar Testbed Interferometer were the first to spatially resolve the debris disk around this star and to show that dust was present within 1 AU of the star - akin to the interplanetary dust in the Solar System that produces the zodiacal light.[10] This work led to the discovery of dust in the inner regions around other stars and leading to the discovery of a gap between the inner dust ring and the outer dust ring in many systems - the existence of which is still not understood.[11] Ciardi is a member of the Kepler Science Team and using data from the Kepler mission, Ciardi has published landmark works on the fundamental nature of stellar variability[12] and the relative sizes of planets in multi-planet systems[1] and has contributed to more than 250 exoplanet discovery papers, including many of the Kepler Mission discoveries and being the principal investigator of the Palomar Transient Factory Orion Transit Survey[13] and co-discoverer of the first transiting planet around a newly formed T Tauri star in the 3-million-year-old star cluster surrounding 25 Orionis.[2]

Ciardi completed his PhD at the University of Wyoming in 1997, and remained in Laramie for another year as a post-doctoral fellow. He left Wyoming to become a post-doc at the University of Florida, ostensibly to work on the Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) mission. The unfortunate failure of WIRE's main telescope immediately following launch sidetracked that research path; however, Ciardi remained at Florida and became a staff member with the infrared instrumentation group where he worked on an array of infrared instruments, including T-ReCS for the 8m telescope Gemini South and CanariCam for the 10m Gran Telescopio Canarias. In 2002, Ciardi took a staff astronomer position at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute; he is currently the NExScI Chief Scientist, and is a Member of the Professional Staff at Caltech.

Awards and honors

In 2016, Ciardi was awarded the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for his work on Kepler and his contributions to the confirmation of Kepler's exoplanets which have led to the characterization of planets ranging in size from Jupiters to Earths. The NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal is awarded to individuals for unusually significant scientific contributions toward achievement of aeronautical or space exploration goals. Asteroid 26312 Ciardi was named in his honor.[14] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 May 2019 (M.P.C. 114954).[15] In September 2019, Ciardi, as part of the TESS team, was awarded the NASA Silver Achievement Medal.

Academic lineage

The following is the historic path of Ciardi's advisors - otherwise known as his academic lineage - spanning two centuries of scientific achievement.

ScientistYear of Ph.D.Institution
Charles Woodward1987University of Rochester
Judy Pipher1971Cornell University
Martin Harwit1960MIT
William Allis1925University of Nancy

References

  1. 1 2 Ciardi, D. R.; Fabrycky, D. C.; Ford, E. B.; Gautier, T. N. III; Howell, S. B.; Lissauer, J. J.; Ragozzine, D.; Rowe, J. F. (2013). "On the Relative Sizes of Planets within Kepler Multiple-candidate Systems". The Astrophysical Journal. 763 (1): 41. arXiv:1212.1859. Bibcode:2013ApJ...763...41C. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/763/1/41. S2CID 10651504.
  2. 1 2 van Eyken, J. C.; Ciardi, D. R.; et al. (2012). "The PTF Orion Project: A Possible Planet Transiting a T-Tauri Star". The Astrophysical Journal. 755 (1): 42. arXiv:1206.1510. Bibcode:2012ApJ...755...42V. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/755/1/42. S2CID 2753064.
  3. ↑ Kane, S. R.; Howell, S. B.; Horch, E. P.; Feng, Y.; Hinkel, N. R.; Ciardi, D. R.; Everett, M. E.; Howard, A. W. & Wright, J. T. (2014). "Limits on Stellar Companions to Exoplanet Host Stars with Eccentric Planets". The Astrophysical Journal. 785 (2): 93. arXiv:1401.1544. Bibcode:2014ApJ...785...93K. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/785/2/93. S2CID 2053475.
  4. ↑ Rowe, J. F.; Bryson, S. T.; Marcy, G. W.; Lissauer, J. J.; Jontof-Hutter, D.; Mullally, F.; Gilliland, R. L.; Issacson, H.; Ford, E.; Howell, S. B.; Borucki, W. J.; Haas, M.; Huber, D.; Steffen, J. H.; Thompson, S. E.; Quintana, E.; Barclay, T.; Still, M.; Fortney, J.; Gautier, T. N. III; Hunter, R.; Caldwell, D. A.; Ciardi, D. R.; Devore, E.; Cochran, W.; Jenkins, J.; Agol, E.; Carter, J. A.; Geary, J. (2014). "Validation of Kepler's Multiple Planet Candidates. III. Light Curve Analysis and Announcement of Hundreds of New Multi-planet Systems". The Astrophysical Journal. 784 (1): 45. arXiv:1402.6534. Bibcode:2014ApJ...784...45R. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/784/1/45. S2CID 119118620.
  5. ↑ Ciardi, D. R. & Gómez Martín, C. (2007). "Star Formation in the Bok Globule CB54". The Astrophysical Journal. 664 (1): 377–383. arXiv:0704.0428. Bibcode:2007ApJ...664..377C. doi:10.1086/518651. S2CID 2823593.
  6. ↑ Ciardi, D. R.; Wachter, S.; Hoard, D. W.; Howell, S. B. & van Belle, G. T. (2006). "Spitzer Space Telescope Observations of Var Her 04: Possible Detection of Dust Formation in a Superoutbursting Tremendous Outburst Amplitude Dwarf Nova". The Astronomical Journal. 132 (5): 1989–1994. arXiv:astro-ph/0608083. Bibcode:2006AJ....132.1989C. doi:10.1086/508212. S2CID 40895900.
  7. ↑ Ciardi, D. R.; Woodward, C. E.; Clemens, D. P.; Harker, D. E. & Rudy, R. J. (2000). "Morphology and Energetics of the Molecular Gas within a Core and a Diffuse Region in the Filamentary Dark Cloud GF 9". The Astronomical Journal. 120 (1): 393–406. Bibcode:2000AJ....120..393C. doi:10.1086/301436.
  8. ↑ Ciardi, D. R.; Howell, S. B.; Hauschildt P. & Allard, F. (1998). "The Relative Contributions to the Near-Infrared Emission in Short Period Cataclysmic Variables". The Astrophysical Journal. 504 (1): 450–460. Bibcode:1998ApJ...504..450C. doi:10.1086/306081.
  9. ↑ van Belle, G. T.; Paladini, C.; Aringer, B.; Hron, J. & Ciardi, D. R. (2013). "The PTI Carbon Star Angular Size Survey: Effective Temperatures and Non-sphericity". The Astrophysical Journal. 775 (1): 45. arXiv:1307.6585. Bibcode:2013ApJ...775...45V. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/775/1/45. S2CID 43847096.
  10. ↑ Ciardi, D. R.; van Belle, G. T.; Akeson, R. L.; Thompson, R. R.; Lada, E. A. & Howell, S. B. (2001). "On the Near-Infrared Size of Vega". The Astrophysical Journal. 559 (2): 1147–1154. arXiv:astro-ph/0105561. Bibcode:2001ApJ...559.1147C. doi:10.1086/322345. S2CID 15898697.
  11. ↑ Akeson, R. L.; Millan-Gabet, R. M.; Ciardi, D. R.; et al. (2011). "Radial Structure in the TW Hya Circumstellar Disk". The Astrophysical Journal. 728 (2): 96. Bibcode:2011ApJ...728...96A. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.659.9897. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/728/2/96. S2CID 122964660.
  12. ↑ Ciardi, D. R.; von Braun, K.; Bryden, G.; van Eyken, J.; Howell, S. B.; Kane, S. R.; Plavchan, P.; Ramírez, S. V. & Stauffer, J. R. (2011). "Characterizing the Variability of Stars with Early-release Kepler Data". The Astronomical Journal. 141 (4): 108. arXiv:1009.1840. Bibcode:2011AJ....141..108C. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/141/4/108. S2CID 29244037.
  13. ↑ van Eyken, J. C.; Ciardi, D. R.; et al. (2011). "The Palomar Transient Factory Orion Project: Eclipsing Binaries and Young Stellar Objects". The Astronomical Journal. 142 (2): 60. arXiv:1106.3570. Bibcode:2011AJ....142...60V. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/142/2/60. S2CID 50889385.
  14. ↑ "26312 Ciardi (1998 TG34)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  15. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
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