Weekly Space Hangout: Feb 6, 2019: Dr. Natalie Hinkel and “The Hypatia Catalog”

Hosts:
Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain)
Dr. Paul M. Sutter (pmsutter.com / @PaulMattSutter)
Dr. Kimberly Cartier (KimberlyCartier.org / @AstroKimCartier )
Dr. Morgan Rehnberg (MorganRehnberg.com / @MorganRehnberg & ChartYourWorld.org)

Dr. Natalie Hinkel is a Planetary Astrophysicist at the Southwest Research Institute and a co-investigator for the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) research network at Arizona State University. Natalie studies elements in our solar neighborhood (i.e., within 150pc of the Sun,) to learn how element abundances impact the structure and mineralogy of planets.

Natalie has created an online database/catalog of stellar element abundances called The Hypatia Catalog which can be used to explore physical and chemical stellar data as well as planetary properties. The catalog is available here: http://www.hypatiacatalog.com/

Natalie is also a member of the Transit Ephemeris Refinement & Monitoring Survey (TERMS) team which analyzes planetary systems with bright stars using new Radial Velocity and photometric measurements. These new techniques vastly improve planetary orbit uncertainties and fundamental host star properties which help to confirm or exclude planetary transits.

You can learn more about Natalie – and listen to her recent segment on the NPR news quiz show Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! – by visiting her website at http://www.nataliehinkel.com/

And don’t forget to check out her podcast, The Science Bar, here: http://www.sciencebarpodcast.com/

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