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This week’s interview is with Yiannis Tsapras.



Jessica Barton: What is your job title?
Yiannis Tsapras: Research Astronomer. I am currently the only LCOGT research astronomer not based in California.

JB: What does your work at LCOGT involve?
YT: I am looking for planets orbiting distant stars using a method called microlensing. Since we cannot directly observe the actual planets due to their faintness relative to their host stars, we use this method to infer their presence from gravitational effects. When we are looking in the direction of a distant background star, there is a small chance that we may observe a lensing effect, generated by the gravity of an intervening star as predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity. If the intervening star happens to host a planet, it can also be detected under certain circumstances.

JB: Could you tell us a little bit about yourself - your education, interests, past work experiences.
YT: I finished high school in Greece and then moved to England where I did a BSc in Physics with Computer Science. I quickly developed an interest in cosmology so it seemed appropriate to continue with an MSc in Radioastronomy studying the cosmic microwave background. That was around the time when the first discoveries of extra-solar planets were being reported. I was quite intrigued by that and my research interests shifted to optical astronomy - which eventually led to a PhD in microlensing.

JB: What led you to the career/job you are doing now?
YT: I was always curious about the origins of life, the universe and everything and I thought that the best way to reduce my ignorance was to learn more physics. The rest followed quite naturally.

Astronomy research is fun but can also be frustrating! There are always new areas to explore and challenges to be met. If we are diligent in our efforts and lady luck is on our side, we may be the first to get a glimpse of some new phenomenon. Discovering something that no one has ever seen before can be a very rewarding experience.

JB: What is a typical day at work like?
YT: Lots of programming and debugging code in order to interpret the observations and derive scientific results. I also keep an eye on the 2-meter telescopes on Haleakala and Siding Spring.

JB: What advice would you offer people wanting to go into the type of work you do?
YT: You will need a strong background in mathematics or physics and some knowledge of programming. It is very hard these days to get by as an astronomer without knowing how to program.

JB: Thanks Yiannis!