About Me

Hey friend! You found me! I am that Leonardo, an astronomer who has been exploring the cosmos for over 15 years, sometimes from the northern hemisphere, sometimes from the southern hemisphere; sometimes from an office desk, sometimes from an observatory telescope on a remote mountain. Whichever the case, I look up at the stars in the search for other planets in the Universe for humans to live in or to learn from. The astrophysical "real estate market" of the solar neighborhood is highly valuable, and I am currently characterizing all orbital architectures of stellar systems in it. My recent research endeavours have been focused on improving the capabilities of astronomical instruments to detect exoplanets, specifically the NEID Spectrograph at the WIYN Observatory, capable of extremely precise radial velocity measurements which reveal the orbital motions of the smallest exoplanets.
When I'm not estimating the market value of stars, I'm usually calculating moves ahead of my opponents in chess games, or I'm moving around the city's pavement with wheels on my feet.

Research

I am conducting a census on the multiplicity of K dwarf stars in the solar neighborhood. The goal of the study is to statistically characterize K dwarfs as host stars for planets. At the same time, we want to shed light into star and planet formation processes by studying the diversity of orbital architectures found in these systems. My study focuses on a sample K dwarfs and surveys for the presence of their closest companions by using the Radial Velocity technique. The search is complemented by two additional search techniques for companions at wider separations to ultimately reveal all the components of each stellar system in the sample. Check out my latest update below!

Telescope Adventures

The search for other stellar systems wouldn't be possible without world-class observatory facilities. One of the workhorses in our enterprise is the CTIO/SMARTS 1.5m Telescope in Chile, where I was the graduate fellow responsible for the CHIRON Spectrograph science operations for 5 years. Contact me if you want to learn more about precise radial velocities with CHIRON or if you want to know how to get observing time with SMARTS.

Photography

The photons I collect through a telescope are not the only ones I care about but also those that pass through the lens of my full-frame camera. I enjoy capturing an artistic frame, photographing artists at their crafts, and documenting my own experiences. Whether I am working, traveling or going on a skating adventure, it is here that I would like to share them.