Rhys Collins

I am a PhD student in the Astronomy and Astrophysics group at the University of Warwick. I am working on atmospheric retrievals with my supervisor Siddharth Gandhi.

My research is currently focused on brown dwarfs, using space-based direct imaging and ground-based high-resolution spectroscopy. As the light emitted by the planet travels through its atmosphere, molecular signatures are imprinted on the spectrum. Using a retrieval framework to compare hundreds of thousands or millions of models to the observations, it is possible to infer the abundance of molecules such as water, carbon dioxide and silicates, as well as the temperature profile and cloudiness of the atmosphere.

One particular aspect I am currently investigating is the isotope ratios of carbon and oxygen: by retrieving the relative abundance of isotopologues for a number of brown dwarfs, I can assess whether the diversity across age and spectral type can reveal details of an object's formation history. As the project progresses, I aim to incorporate atmospheric dynamics into the retrieval framework, improving the accuracy of the brown dwarf models and allowing variability to be modelled and captured.

I studied my undergraduate degree at the University of Birmingham, completing my MSci Physics with a project on general relativity in galaxy simulations.

I teach problems classes for first year undergraduate students, grading their assignments in a variety of taught modules and providing support and guidance in weekly sessions.