A Postdoctoral Scholar position is offered to work a variety of exoplanet topics. The work will be divided into two general areas. The first involves developing and analyzing high fidelity simulations of coronagraphic imaging and transit observations (photometry and spectroscopy) with the NIRCam instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST; http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/nircam/; http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/nircam/nircam_coronagraph_spie_2007.pdf; http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/nircam/nircam_grism_spie07.pdf) . These simulations will include analysis of laboratory testbed data using HgCdTe detectors to probe the limits of JWST’s photometric precision for transit applications (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012PASP..124..700C). The second area of research will involve working on existing data and future observations from a) the Palomar 5-m telescope using the P1640 coronagraph (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011PASP..123...74H) to search for planets orbiting young A-F stars and b) the Keck/Spitzer/HST telescopes to determine parallaxes of nearby brown dwarf stars (Y and Late T spectral types) detected by the WISE satellite.
Applicants should have a demonstrated interest and expertise in one or more of the above scientific topics as well as facility with one of the standard astronomical data reduction software packages (IDL, IRAF, PyRAF).
Candidates should have obtained, by the starting date, a Ph.D. in astronomy, physics, or equivalent. The position is offered for 2 years subject to the availability of funds with a possible renewal for a third year.
To apply, please send a CV, publication list, and statement of research interests to Mary Ellen Barba, meb@ipac.caltech.edu, and arrange to have three letters of reference forwarded to the same email address. The deadline for applications is December 31, 2012. Caltech is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, Minorities, Veterans, and Disabled Persons are encouraged to apply.
