Octavi Fors Aldrich
Field of Research
Exoplanets ; Star-Planet Interaction (flares); Time Domain Astrophysics ; Orbital flashes; Robotic Astronomy ; High Time Resolution Astrophysics ; Data analysis
Email
octavifors@icc.ub.edu
Phone
934039234
Office
757
I got my MSc in Remote Sensing at the Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC) in 1998, and my PhD at Universitat de Barcelona (UB) in 2006 under the supervision of Jorge Nunez, with the maximum qualification of Excellent cum Laude. I won two (4-year long total) postdoctoral contracts at the Reial Acadèmia de Ciències i Arts de Barcelona. Then, I was a "Juan de la Cierva" fellow (2010-2013) at UB. Afterwards, I was hired as Research Scientist by the Qatar Foundation (Qatar), followed by a 4-year postdoctoral contract at the Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC, USA). I also was a "Maria de Maeztu" postdoctoral fellow at the Institut de Ciències del Cosmos UB (ICCUB) for 6 months and, joined the Department de Física Quàntica i Astrofísica, UB as a posdoctoral fellow for a few months, where I now am assistant professor,
I am member of the ICCUB and of the IEEC.
Lines of Research

Lines of Research
My research spans the following areas:

1. Astronomical and Remote Sensing 1D and 2D Data Analysis:
A) design and implementation of Evryscope-South reduction pipeline,
B) wavelet-based analysis of lunar occultations light curves (AWLORP algorithm),
C) image deconvolution and image fusion using wavelets.

2. Instrumentation:
A) design and construction of three wide-field robotic telescopes (Evryscope-South,
Evryscope-North, and TFRM),
B) design and implementation of new high-speed reading modes for CCD and NIR arrays
(VLT/ISAAC, CAHA 2.2m/MAGIC and OAN 1.5m/MAGIC).

3. Science:
A) discovery and characterization of Earth-sized transiting exoplanets orbiting
FGKM-type host-stars with Kepler, K2, TESS and CHEOPS missions data.

B) detection and frequency study of (super)flares on active M-dwarfs stars and
their habitability implications on orbiting exoplanets, with Evryscopes and TESS
optical data.
Leadership for studying M-dwarfs flares and activity from a CubeSat in UV and optical bands.


C) census of orbital sub-second flashes with Evryscopes and TFRM and their impact on
Astrophysical transients surveys.

D) submilliarcsecond resolution of infrared stellar features: measurement of
stellar diameters, detection of new components in very close binaries systems,
circumstellar envelopes, by means of high time resolution lunar occultations technique.


ADS publications