Senate Faculty
Eugene Chiang
Specialty areas
Astrophysics,Planet formation,Planetary Science,Planets,Theoretical and computational astrophysics,Trans-Neptunian objects.
Research Interests
Theoretical astrophysics, with an emphasis on understanding the origin of planetary systems. Protoplanetary disks; extrasolar planets; debris disks, including the Kuiper belt; planetesimal and planet formation.
Biography
Eugene Chiang received his undergraduate degree in physics from MIT in 1995, and his PhD in astronomy from Caltech in 2000. He teaches a variety of classes in the Astronomy Department, ranging from introductory astrophysics for undergraduate majors, to fluid mechanics and radiative processes for graduate students, to graduate seminars on galactic and planetary dynamics. The most challenging and rewarding class he teaches is order-of-magnitude physics, in which the class tries to estimate any quantity under the sun to within a factor of 10.
Projects
The Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey
Lead:Paul Kalas, James Graham
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is an advanced science instrument that exploits the latest generation of adaptive optics technology, coronagraphy and detectors. We commissioned GPI at the Gemini South telescope in Chile in 2014 and finished a five-year survey for exoplanets called GPIES (GPI Exoplanet Survey). Among the many discoveries were the planet 51 Eri b and many dusty debris disks, published in over 30 peer-reviewed manuscripts. GPI will be upgraded and installed on Gemini North in Hawaii in 2025.