Projects per year
Personal profile
Research Interests
I am the head of the Exoplanet Group within the Astrophysics Research Centre in the School of Mathematics and Physics, as well as the Deputy Head of School. My research interests lie with discovering and characterising planets orbiting other stars - known as exoplanets. This work naturally attracts a lot of public and press attention, and has led to a number of global press releases over the years. As a result I have written expert articles for the BBC News, as well as filmed for BBC Horizon, as well as many recorded and live Radio and TV appearances across the UK, USA, and further afield.
My key interests lie with improving detection methods for 'weighing' exoplanets, in the push to confirming the first true (and so far, elusive!) 'Earth-analog' world outside our own solar system. In addition, I also dabble in characterising their atmospheres - and was recently part of a team that showed that it was possible with current techniques to find water in the atmospheres of super-Earths.
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Network
Projects
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R1396APL: PATT Travel Grant for Observational Astrophysics at QUB: 2020 - 2022
Jess, D., Fitzsimmons, A., Keenan, F., Mathioudakis, M., Millar, T., Milligan, R., Schwamb, M., Sim, S., Smartt, S., Watson, C. & de Mooij, E.
07/07/2020 → …
Project: Research
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R1099APL: STFC PhD Studentship Allocations 2019
Mathioudakis, M., Ballance, C., Fitzsimmons, A., Jess, D., Keenan, F., Millar, T., Ramsbottom, C., Riley, D., Sarri, G., Sim, S., Smartt, S. & Watson, C.
11/08/2019 → …
Project: Research
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R1915APL: PATT Linked Grant for observational astrophysics at QUB: 2018 - 2020
Jess, D., Fitzsimmons, A., Fraser, W., Gibson, N., Keenan, F., Lacerda, P., Maguire, K., Mathioudakis, M., Millar, T., Sim, S., Smartt, S. & Watson, C.
03/07/2018 → …
Project: Research
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R1711APL: QUB Astronomy Observation and Theory Consolodated Grant 2017-2020
Smartt, S., Ballance, C., Gibson, N., Keenan, F., Kotak, R., Maguire, K., Millar, T., Mueller, B., Poppenhaeger, K., Ramsbottom, C., Riley, D., Sarri, G., Sim, S. & Watson, C.
20/01/2017 → …
Project: Research
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R1057APL: PATT linked grant for observational astrophysics at QUB: supplememtary funding
01/08/2009 → 17/12/2019
Project: Research
Research Output
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A long period (P = 61.8-d) M5V dwarf eclipsing a Sun-like star from TESS and NGTS
Gill, S., Cooke, B. F., Bayliss, D., Nielsen, L. D., Lendl, M., Wheatley, P. J., Anderson, D. R., Moyano, M., Bryant, E. M., Acton, J. S., Belardi, C., Bouchy, F., Burleigh, M. R., Casewell, S. L., Chaushev, A., Goad, M. R., Jackman, J. A. G., Jenkins, J. S., McCormac, J., Günther, M. N. & 10 others, , 13 May 2020, In : Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Advance Access.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (Scopus)37 Downloads (Pure) -
An eclipsing M-dwarf close to the hydrogen burning limit from NGTS
Acton, J. S., Goad, M. R., Casewell, S. L., Vines, J. I., Burleigh, M. R., Eigmüller, P., Nielsen, L. D., Gänsicke, B. T., Bayliss, D., Bouchy, F., Bryant, E. M., Gill, S., Gillen, E., Günther, M. N., Jenkins, J. S., McCormac, J., Moyano, M., Raynard, L. R., Tilbrook, R. H., Udry, S. & 3 others, , 17 Aug 2020, (Accepted) In : Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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An Ultra-Hot Neptune in the Neptune desert
Jenkins, J. S., Díaz, M. R., Kurtovic, N. T., Espinoza, N., Vines, J. I., Rojas, P. A. P., Brahm, R., Torres, P., Cortés-Zuleta, P., Soto, M. G., Lopez, E. D., King, G. W., Wheatley, P. J., Winn, J. N., Ciardi, D. R., Ricker, G., Vanderspek, R., Latham, D. W., Seager, S., Jenkins, J. M. & 64 others, , 21 Sep 2020, In : Nature Astronomy.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus) -
An unusually low density ultra-short period super-Earth and three mini-Neptunes around the old star TOI-561
Lacedelli, G., Malavolta, L., Borsato, L., Piotto, G., Nardiello, D., Mortier, A., Stalport, M., Collier Cameron, A., Poretti, E., Buchhave, L. A., López-Morales, M., Nascimbeni, V., Wilson, T. G., Udry, S., Latham, D. W., Bonomo, A. S., Damasso, M., Dumusque, X., Jenkins, J. M., Lovis, C. & 21 others, , 08 Dec 2020, In : Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
A Pair of TESS Planets Spanning the Radius Valley around the Nearby Mid-M Dwarf LTT 3780
Cloutier, R., Eastman, J. D., Rodriguez, J. E., Astudillo-Defru, N., Bonfils, X., Mortier, A., Watson, C. A., Stalport, M., Pinamonti, M., Lienhard, F., Harutyunyan, A., Damasso, M., Latham, D. W., Collins, K. A., Massey, R., Irwin, J., Winters, J. G., Charbonneau, D., Ziegler, C., Matthews, E. & 67 others, , Jul 2020, In : Astronomical Journal. 160, 1, p. 3Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Citations (Scopus)14 Downloads (Pure)
Prizes
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Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
Watson, Christopher (Recipient), 2002
Prize: Election to learned society
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Activities
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Public Talk to the Irish Astronomical Association - "The Terra Hunting Experiment: Finding alien Earth-like worlds"
Christopher Watson (Invited speaker)
08 Jan 2020Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
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CoolStars 21 splinter session: "Characterising stellar activity in the era of extreme radial velocity surveys of low-mass planets orbiting F-M stars"
Christopher Watson (Member of the organising committee)
22 Jun 2020 → 26 Jun 2020Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
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International Space Science Institute - Towards Earth-like alien worlds: "Know thy star, know thy planet II"
Christopher Watson (Organiser)
09 Sep 2019 → 13 Sep 2019Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
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PhD external examiner for Miss Charlotte Norris (Imperial College London)
Christopher Watson (Examiner)
19 Aug 2018Activity: Examination types › PhD external examination
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CoolStars 20
Christopher Watson (Participant)
29 Jul 2018 → 03 Aug 2018Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
Impact
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Engaging the Public in Science and Increasing Awareness of Physics and Astronomy
Alan Fitzsimmons (Participant), Samuel Duddy (Participant), Henry Hsieh (Participant), Stephen Smartt (Participant), Stephen Lowry (Participant), Heather Cegla (Participant), Sergiy Shelyag (Participant), Victoria Moulds (Participant), Michail Mathioudakis (Participant), Don Pollacco (Participant), John Burton (Participant) & Christopher Watson (Participant)
Impact: Societial Impact