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Tom Barclay Research Scientist
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HI THERE, I'M TOM BARCLAY

I use space telescopes to learn things about the universe

I'm at scientist based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, MD.
I am the Operations Scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and am
the Deputy Project Scientist the Pandora SmallSat. My primary scientific
interests lie in the analysis of data from space and ground-based telescopes to
infer properties of exoplanets and their host stars.

 * Learn More


RESEARCH INTERESTS


TIME DOMAIN SCIENCE

I use time-series data from space to learn things about stars, planets and
galaxies. I focusing on the discovery and characterization of exoplanet but have
also studied stellar oscillations, and galactic transients.


STATISTICAL METHODS

I enjoy applying novel statistical techniques to data-based problems in
astrophysics. Mostly this involves using tools like Gaussian Processes and
Markov Chain Monte Carlo.


PLANET FORMATION

I use N-body simulations to model the formation and evolution of rocky planets,
measure impact rates, and track water delivery. Our Solar System formed one
temperate planet that has long-lived oceans. Why did this happen, and are we an
anomaly?


STELLAR ACTIVITY

I lead a large multiwavelength project to measure the rate and energies of
stellar flares with data spanning radio to X-ray. The goal is to determine
whether planets around cool stars are good places to search for life


ABOUT ME

I have worked NASA flight projects since 2011, including pre- and post-launch
operations. I am the Operations Scientist for NASA's next astrophysics flagship,
the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. I also work on the TESS mission and the
Pandora SmallSat. While based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, I work for
the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

My primary scientific interests lie in the analysis of data from space and
ground-based telescopes to infer properties of exoplanets and their host stars.
This has led to a number of major discoveries including the detection of the
smallest known planet, the detection of the first super-Earth-sized planet
orbiting in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star, and the detection of the
first Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of another star.

I grew up in the city of Sheffield in Northern England, UK. My undergraduate
studies were performed at the University of Leeds, UK where I obtained a
Bachelors degree in Physics with Astrophysics in 2006. My Masters thesis work
was performed at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, part of the University of
Manchester. I obtained a Master of Science degree in 2007 for work to understand
Galactic dust emission. I then moved to Northern Ireland for my doctoral studies
where I worked at the Armagh Observatory. I was co-supervised, and was awarded
my Ph.D. by, University College London in 2011. I worked on understanding the
population of ultra-compact white dwarf binaries.

After my postgraduate studies, I was appointed to the Kepler Guest Observer
Office at NASA Ames Research Center, California as a research scientist.

In 2014 I was promoted to Director of the Kepler/K2 Guest Observer Office. I led
a team responsible for developing proposal calls, organizing proposal reviews,
providing critical support to the scientific community and developing software
to enhance output from Kepler and K2. I was part of the small team that
pioneered the K2 mission, utilizing the Kepler spacecraft after the loss of fine
pointing control. I served on the science and mission leadership teams for K2.

In 2017 I moved to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland to
work on the TESS mission. I initially, served as Deputy Director and then
Director of the TESS Guest Investigator Program, and as Associate Project
Scientist. I have worked on several mission development project, including
serving as Deputy PI of an Explorer proposal that would have observed the
transient sky at UV and visible wavelengths. I am the Deputy Project Scientist
of the Pandora Smallsat, with responsibility for the Observatory. This mission
was selected in the inaugural NASA Astrophysics Pioneers program in 2021 and has
since been approved to proceed toward flight.

 * Short CV


PUBLICATIONS

I've published over 110 refereed papers, on all manner of topics in astrophysics
ranging from planets in our solar system to distant supernovae. Below are a list
of papers that I've been a part and am especially proud of, or I think are
particularly interesting for one reason or another.

The L 98-59 System: Three Transiting, Terrestrial-Sized Planets Orbiting a
Nearby M-dwarf

We reported the discovery of three terrestrial-sized planets transiting L 98-59,
a bright M dwarf at a distance of 10.6 pc. The planets radii range from 0.7
REarth to 1.3 REarth. The planets are prime targets for future transit
spectroscopy with the James Webb Space Telescope. (Kostov, Schlieder, Barclay et
al. 2019, AJ)

A Revised Exoplanet Yield from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)

In this paper wemade estimated of how many exoplanets the TESS mission would
detect, the physical properties of the detected planets, and the properties of
the stars that those planets orbit. The hope was that it would be useful for
people planning future observations. The simulation data are available from
Figshare. These simulations seems to have done a pretty good job at predicting
the real distribution of TESS planets. (Barclay, Quintana and Pepper, 2018,
ApJS)

The Demographics of Rocky Free-floating Planets and their Detectability by
WFIRST

I wanted to make a prediction about what WFIRST will find. During tplanet
formation, material in the disk either remains bound to the star as part of
either a planet, a smaller celestial body, or makes up part of the the
interplanetary medium; falls into the star; or is ejected from the system. We
used dynamical models to probe the abundance and properties of ejected material
during late-stage planet formation and estimate their contribution to the
free-floating planet population. We predicted that the space-borne microlensing
search for free-floating planets from the WFIRST will discover up to many
Mars-mass planets, but few free-floating Earths. (Barclay, Quintana, Raymond and
Penny, 2017, ApJ)

An Ancient Extrasolar System with Five Sub-Earth-size Planets

This is definitely my favorite planetary system. We reported the discovery of
five transiting planets with sizes between those of Mercury. The host star,
Kepler-444 is the densest star with detected solar-like oscillations. We used
asteroseismology to directly measure a precise age of 11.2 Gyr for the host
star, indicating that Kepler-444 formed when the universe was less than 20% of
its current age and making it the oldest known system of terrestrial-size
planets. We thus show that Earth-size planets have formed throughout most of the
universe's 13.8 billion year history, leaving open the possibility for the
existence of ancient life in the Galaxy. (Campante, Barclay, Swift et al., 2015,
ApJ)

The Five Planets in the Kepler-296 Binary System All Orbit the Primary: A
Statistical and Analytical Analysis

In this paper we used a neat statistical technique determine the host star for
five planets. Kepler-296 is a binary star system with two close M-dwarf
components and five transiting planets. However, the planets could in principle
orbit either star. Using importance sampling, we compared the model
probabilities under the priors of the planets orbiting either the brighter or
the fainter component of the binary. A model where the planets orbit the
brighter component, Kepler-296A, is strongly preferred by the data. (Barclay,
Quintana, Adams et al., 2015, ApJ)

Radial Velocity Observations and Light Curve Noise Modeling Confirm that
Kepler-91b is a Giant Planet Orbiting a Giant Star

Kepler-91b is a rare example of a transiting hot Jupiter around a red giant
star. However, the planetary nature of Kepler-91b, was called into question. The
star exhibits temporally correlated noise due to stellar granulation which we
modeled as a Gaussian Process simultaneously with transit, phase curve and
radial velocity models. We hypothesized that it is this noise component that led
previous studies to suspect Kepler-91b was a false positive. This is one of the
first times that GPs were used to model stellar variability. (Barclay, Endl,
Huber et al., 2015, ApJ)

An Earth-Sized Planet in the Habitable Zone of a Cool Star

This was the first Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of another. We
presented the detection of Kepler-186f, a 1.1 Earth-radius planet that is the
outermost of five planets, all roughly Earth-sized. The intensity and spectrum
of the star’s radiation place Kepler-186f in the stellar habitable zone,
implying that if Kepler-186f has an Earth-like atmosphere and water at its
surface, then some of this water is likely to be in liquid form. (Quintana,
Barclay, Raymond, et al., 2014, Science)

A sub-Mercury-sized exoplanet

Here we reported a planet significantly smaller than Mercury. This tiny planet
is the innermost of three that orbit the Sun-like host star, which we designated
Kepler-37. We used asteroseismology to determine the properties of the host
star. Kepler-37b is still the smallest known planet. (Barclay, Rowe, Lissauer,
et al., 2013, Nature)


RECENT PUBLICATIONS

(05/2023) R. F. Wilson, T. Barclay, B. P. Powell, J. Schlieder, C. Hedges et al.
Transiting Exoplanet Yields for the Roman Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey
Predicted from Pixel-Level Simulations

(05/2023) T. O. Foote, T. Barclay, C. L. Hedges, N. K. Lewis, E. V. Quintana et
al.
Schedule optimization for transiting exoplanet observations with NASA's Pandora
SmallSat mission

(04/2023) E. V. Quintana, E. A. Gilbert, T. Barclay, M. L. Silverstein, J. E.
Schlieder et al.
Two Warm Super-Earths Transiting the Nearby M Dwarf TOI-2095

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CONTACT ME


REACH OUT

If you're looking to get in touch with me, the best method is email. For most
issues you're best contacting me on tomsbarclay@gmail.com. For NASA business
(anything about the TESS GI Program, for example) please use my NASA address
thomas.barclay@nasa.gov.


CONSULTING

Have an astronomy, data science, proposal preparation, anything else project
that you'd like someone to consult on? Perhaps I can help. I have a registered
sole proprietorship business in Maryland for consulting work. I've done previous
work for a lovely company called Under Lucky Stars.


MENU

 * Intro
 * Research Interests
 * About Me
 * Publications


GET IN TOUCH

Let's talk about science, collaborations, nerd out about space. I also do little
consulting work, let me know what you need.

 * tomsbarclay@gmail.com
 * +1-301-286-5079
 * NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
   Greenbelt, MD 20771
 * mrtommyb

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