Code and the Art of Modeling Exoplanet Atmospheres

Please join Charlottesville Data Science for our first event since PyData Virginia 2025! Arthur Adams, a postdoctoral researcher in astronomy at the University of Virginia, will present the talk Code and the Art of Modeling Exoplanet Atmospheres. We'll be gathering in person at Vault Virginia on the Downtown Mall.

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About the talk

With the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, major advances are being made in astronomy — especially in the characterization of extrasolar planets (“exoplanets”). With this rapid influx of unprecedented data, there has been an excitement in revisiting how we develop and adapt software, including machine learning and AI, to do science. In this talk, Arthur will provide a look at some tools in Python that many researchers currently use to model exoplanet atmospheres, discuss how he and his colleagues build collaborations to do more effective scientific inquiry, and offer a perspective on what tools are often under-appreciated to scaffold their push toward an increasingly ML/AI-supported field of research. He also wants to learn from the wider data science community how we can further improve our efforts!

The talk is intended as an overview and does not require much previous knowledge. However, it may be most engaging for those who:

1. Have a working knowledge of common Python design principles and software packages such as pandas and xarray, and
2. Are interested in a modestly technical look at current data analysis practices in exoplanet astronomy.

Extensive subject-matter knowledge is not needed; in fact, one of Arthur's goals is to expose these ideas to and get feedback from a wider audience with enthusiasm for science!

Arthur will also give a sneak peek of an early build of Potluck, an experimental project that models atmospheres, which is inspired by the ideas and challenges in the exoplanet modeling community. This code will be publicly available (as many in our field are) to all who are interested.

How to find us

Please enter the building using the side door on 3rd Street SE, right across 3rd Street from the Front Porch Music School, then take the stairs or elevator to the first floor. We'll be gathering in the Great Hall and Gallery area.