Research

My research focuses on the lifecycle of astrophysical dust, and in particular its role in the chemical enrichment of our Galaxy. I study the final stages of the evolution of stars like our Sun; these so-called Asymptotic Giant Branch stars have swollen up to hundreds of times their normal size and are in the process of ejecting their outer layers. Dust forms when shocked gas reaches high enough densities at low temperatures; this dust is then accelerated up to tens of km per second by radiation pressure, driven by the high luminosity of the star. The dust collides with gas molecules, which produces the prodigious stellar wind that unbinds the star’s envelope and returns material enriched with nucleosynthesis products to the interstellar medium.

I also try to understand the properties of the dust in interstellar space, particularly in our own Galaxy, and use dust to study the formation of stars and the properties of planetary systems. These exploit many similar observational and modelling methods to my work on evolved stars, providing strong synergies.