Projects

Very Long Baseline Interferometry

Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) consists of linking radio telescopes across the globe to create a virtual antenna as large as the distance between the telescopes in the array. This technique provides the highest angular resolution achievable from Earth.

We use VLBI to conduct astrometric planet searches around M-dwarf stars. The image shows an artist impression of TVLM 513-46546, an M9 dwarf with a Saturn-mass planet detected using this technique.

Published in:

Curiel S., Ortiz-León G. N., et al. 2020, AJ, 160, 97.

Astrometry

The image shows VLBA positions of a young binary star in the Ophiuchus molecular cloud, and a combined (astrometric and orbital) fit to the data.

From this fit we derived the proper motions, parallax, distance, and stellar masses of the two components in the system.

Published in:

Ortiz-León G. N., Loinard L., et al. 2017, ApJ, 834, 141.

Astrometry of water masers in Serpens South

Water masers originate in internal shocks within protostellar jets or in shocks between jets and the circumstellar disk. We used very long baseline interferometry to trace the water maser motions and study the gas dynamics close to a protostar in a low-mass star-forming region.

Published in:

Ortiz-León G. N., Plunkett A. L., et al. 2021, AJ, 162, 68.