Snehalata Sahu
I am a post-doc research fellow (joined 2022) in the Astronomy and Astrophysics group at the University of Warwick, working on white dwarfs with Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay and Boris Gänsicke.
I am currently analyzing the HST/COS high-resolution ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy survey data of DA (hydrogen atmospheres) white dwarfs (WDs). The atmospheric parameters of WDs such as effective temperature and surface gravities are extensively studied using optical spectroscopy and photometry observations, however, there are fewer studies using UV spectroscopy. The main motivation of this work is to search for planetary debris around young white dwarfs, estimate the abundances using UV spectroscopy and check how they vary with WD parameters (mass, cooling age, etc.), a comparative analysis of the atmospheric parameters determined from UV and optical estimates from different studies, etc.
I am also working on the spectroscopic survey of 100 parsecs sample to be observed with the 4-meter multi-object spectroscopic telescope (4MOSTLink opens in a new window). We are interested in obtaining the low-resolution spectra of main-sequence stars (up to spectral types M) covering the wavelength range 370–950 nm which will be useful for studying their basic properties.
Apart from white dwarfs, I am also interested in the study of hot stellar populations (horizontal branch stars, exotic stars such as Blue Stragglers) in Globular clusters using multi-wavelength data. I obtained my Ph.D. in 2020 from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru where I studied these UV stellar populations using Ultraviolet data from AstroSat/UVIT, HST, and other surveys.
My publications in NASA ADS.
I also like illustrating my research works through art. One of my illustrations is shown below:
Acrylic painting depicting mass transfer from a red giant companion to the main sequence star in binary (top), and white dwarf companion to a blue straggler star (bottom)