Project description

The universe in the visible wavelength remains largely unexplored in the sub-second time regime and sub-milliarcsecond scale, primarily due to instrumental limitations. Overcoming these impediments would bring a breakthrough in our knowledge of stellar physics, evolution and modeling by imaging the stars and their surroundings and unraveling the history of the Solar System.

The ERC recently funded with 2.5M€ an ERC StG grant to demonstrate over the next years the viability of a cost-effective and novel solution to enhance the capabilities of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) to perform ultra-fast optical measurements. Such an upgrade allows two novel applications of these telescopes in the visible range: their use as Stellar Intensity Interferometers and as high-time-resolution, fast, high-precision photometers.

The MicroStars project pretends to expand the limiting time and angular resolution of current optical observatories by at least an order of magnitude. By upgrading the capabilities of current- and next-generation IACTs, we have the potential of creating hosts of scientific breakthroughs, answering fundamental questions regarding stellar physics, magnetic activity and modeling, exoplanet properties and the Solar System planetary formation. Bringing these objectives to fruition will only be possible with a research team with the required multidisciplinary skills to expand the state of the art with novel instrumentation and methodologies.

Job opening

Link:
https://www.ciemat.es/cargarAplicacionOfertaEmpleo.do?texto=003&identificador=2343

The selected candidate for this postdoctoral position (~3-year available funding) will participate in the following tasks:

1) Participate in data collection from the MAGIC and LST telescopes, with a special focus on optical interferometry observations.
2) Participate in the development of the Python analysis software "magic_spysii" for interferometry data analysis.
3) Participate in the development of interferometry data acquisition software in CUDA.
4) Participate in the analysis of interferometry data from the MAGIC, LST1, and future LST2-4 telescopes.
5) Lead the writing of observation proposals and scientific publications associated with these observations in the field of OB-type stellar astrophysics and rapid rotators.

Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to contact the PI, Tarek Hassan (tarek.hassan@ciemat.es). Deadline for application is the 26th of May 2025.