Dr. Daniella C. Bardalez Gagliuffi

Daniella C. Bardalez Gagliuffi

Assistant Professor of Astrophysics at Amherst College investigating the formation of giant planets and brown dwarfs.

Research

By combining mutliple monitoring techniques, we can reconstruct orbits in a fraction of the period. I used Gaia-Hipparcos accelerations and radial velocity to disentangle the mass and inclination of both planets in the 14 Herculis system: the closest, most metal rich, multi-giant-planet system. I showed that the orbits of the two planets are misaligned by almost 90 degrees! Stay tuned for the addition of direct imaging from JWST! Learn more here.

The chemical composition of brown dwarfs sets additional constraints on their natal environment. I use an array of empirical, data-driven, and modeling techniques to infer abundances, cloud structure, and fundamental parameters from brown dwarfs, identify hidden companions, and predict variability. Learn more here.

Brown dwarfs born in systems carry both orbital and atmospheric clues to their formation. I analyze large samples of brown dwarfs to statistically constrain their multiplicity trends. Learn more here.

Education

I come from a country with no professional Astronomy. I am committed to providing access to quality education to all students.

About Me

I am an observational and computational astronomer, originally from Lima, Peru. I earned my BS in Physics at MIT and my PhD at UC San Diego. I enjoy cooking (and eating), traveling, playing the guitar, and knitting. I speak Spanish, English, French, and Python.