Postdoctoral Scholar in NEO observations (MITHNEOS)

The postdoctoral scholar will work in collaboration with Dr. Cristina Thomas and other project team members on the MIT-Hawaii Near Earth Object Spectroscopic Survey (MITHNEOS), a long-running near-infrared spectral survey using SpeX on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). Leadership of the program has recently passed to Dr. Thomas at NAU. The postdoctoral scholar will take a leading role in all aspects of the survey including target selection, spectroscopic observations (~1 night per month), reduction, and data analysis. This position is eligible for remote work within the US.

Tasks include:

Data analysis and publication 40%

• Develop scientific questions for publications of the datasets.
• Perform taxonomic classification and spectral analysis.
• Publish results using the new data and our full spectral catalog.

Remote Observations 30%

• Assist with preparation of IRTF proposals.
• Perform monthly IRTF observations.

Data reduction 20%

• Perform reductions of incoming data.
• Maintain catalog of observations and format the data for distribution on the project’s website.

Generation and maintenance of tools 10%

• Assist with migration of observing and reduction tools to python.
• Create new software tools as needed for operation of program.

Minimum Qualifications

Ph.D. in Astronomy, Planetary Science, or a related field

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with spectroscopic observations and data reduction

Experience with unix systems, iraf, IDL, and python