Ben Davies

About me

I am a second year PhD student, supervised by David BrownLink opens in a new window. My research focuses on detecting and characterising circumbinary planets from space-based transiting planet surveys, particularly from the TESSLink opens in a new window mission.

Current research

Circumbinary planets (CBPs) are planets that orbit both components of a stellar binary. Currently, only 14 transiting CBPs have been discovered, while thousands of transiting planets have been discovered around single stars. This discrepancy is partially due to observational bias, but also due to their orbital properties; CBPs tend to have long periods and their orbital planes precess, such that a CBP can oscillate between transiting and non-transiting orbital configurations on timescales of decades. My research aims to develop a better understanding of these planetary systems by increasing the population of confirmed transiting CBPs, developing techniques to enable more efficient detection of the transits of these planets, and determining their characteristics. This primarily involves analysing data from space-based surveys, particularly TESS, as well as archival data or follow-up observations to characterise planet candidates. Increasing the number of confirmed CBPs will not only help us understand the statistics of the CBP population, and how they fit into the population of exoplanets, but will also help us to understand their complex formation processes and dynamical history.

Past research

• Characterising exocomets in the far-UV (supervisor: Paul Strøm) - MPhys project (2022)
• White dwarfs as tracers of stellar and galactic evolution: analysing the first data from SDSS-V (supervisor: Boris Gänsicke) - Undergraduate summer project (2021)
• Spectroscopic characterisation of exoplanet atmospheres: benchmarking analysis techniques (supervisor: Matteo Brogi) - Undergraduate summer project (2020)

Teaching and Outreach

• PX146: Key Skills for Physics - Senior Graduate Teaching Assistant
• Managing and volunteering for Warwick Mobile Planetarium
• Co-organiser for Astronomy on Tap (Coventry)
• Carried out a research project as an Orbyts FellowLink opens in a new window

Conferences and Workshops

• The formation and long-term evolution of circumbinary planetary systems across the H-R diagram, Florence (presented a talkLink opens in a new window)
• Celebrating 21 Years of Astronomy at Warwick, University of Warwick (attended)
• TESS Science Conference III, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (presented a poster)Link opens in a new window
• Summer School in Statistics for Astronomers, Penn State University (attended online)
• ESP2024: PLATO Planetary Systems - From Formation to Observed Architectures, Catania Astrophysical Observatory (attended online)
• UKEXOM 2024, University of Birmingham (presented a posterLink opens in a new window)
• STFC Introductory Summer School in Astronomy 2023, University of Hull (attended)

Publications

Contributing

• L. Makrygianni et al. "The Double Tidal Disruption Event AT 2022dbl Implies that at Least Some "Standard" Optical Tidal Disruption Events Are Partial DisruptionsLink opens in a new window", ApJL 987, 1, L20 (July 2025)
• K. Inight et al. "Cataclysmic Variables from Sloan Digital Sky Survey – V. The search for period bouncers continuesLink opens in a new window", MNRAS 525, 3, 3597 (November 2023)