The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is humanity’s new eye in the sky. Orbiting at about five times the distance from the Moon to the Earth, JWST is looking at the universe as isolated as possible, allowing us to study objects with an unprecedented level of detail. Among the objects being studied by JWST are exoplanets, planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. In this talk, Dr. Néstor Espinoza will share the latest advancements learned from those alien worlds, paving the road to answer the ultimate question, “Are we alone?“
Dr. Néstor Espinoza is an Associate Astronomer and Mission Scientist for Exoplanet Science at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). Born and raised in Santiago, Chile, he earned his PhD in 2017 from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Following his doctorate, he became a Bernoulli Postdoctoral Fellow in Heidelberg, Germany, which is a joint appointment between the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and the University of Bern in Switzerland. At the University of Bern, he led projects to detect new exoplanets and characterize their atmospheres using both ground- and space-based observatories. In recognition of his work, he received the prestigious IAU–Gruber Fellowship from the International Astronomical Union and the Gruber Foundation in 2018. In 2019, Dr. Espinoza joined STScI as a staff astronomer, where he played a key role in the commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope, leading teams dedicated to maximizing its scientific return. He is an expert in exoplanet science and leads a dynamic research group at STScI focused on exploring the atmospheres of distant worlds with space telescopes.
