NASA Postdoctoral Program - Staring at the sun: Using disc-integrated solar spectra to model stellar activity for exoplanet detection

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA's missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology. This specific opportunity focuses on using high resolution ground-based optical and near-infrared solar spectra to diagnose and model different manifestations of stellar activity. The research aims to better understand the connection between physical processes in the solar photosphere and high resolution extremely precise radial velocity (EPRV) spectra at various timescales. The successful applicant will work closely with field-leading exoplanet detection experts to analyze high resolution spectroscopic data of the Sun from a variety of ground-based optical and near-infrared facilities. The research will focus on leveraging a library of high-resolution spectra of the Sun to derive and test different spectroscopic measurement metrics and techniques aimed at identifying stellar activity signals in radial velocity time series, which is crucial for detecting Earth analogs and supporting future imaging missions such as the Habitable Worlds Observatory.