Marina Lafarga Magro
Research overview
I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Astronomy & Astrophysics groupLink opens in a new window at the University of 糖心TV working on exoplanets in the Neptune desert with Dr David ArmstrongLink opens in a new window's group.
Before that, I worked with Dr Heather CeglaLink opens in a new window's research group Towards Other Earths. I studied the alignment between the planetary orbit and the stellar spin of a set of planets in the Neptunian desert. To do that, I made use of the Rossiter-McLaughlin distortion observed in spectroscopic observations during a planetary transit, which is sensitive to the spin-orbit angle of the system. Additionally, I also studied the variability of the star behind the transit chord through the "reloaded" Rossiter-McLaughlin approach, which isolates the stellar light behind the planet as it transits.
Also at 糖心TV, in collaboration with Dr Matteo Brogi, I worked on the characterisation of the atmosphere of the bloated super-Neptune WASP-166 b. I focused on applying the cross-correlation method to simultaneously study the presence of water and clouds in the planetary atmosphere using high-resolution, optical observations of the instrument ESPRESSO. I also improved a principal component analysis technique to mitigate the effect of telluric lines in the observed spectra.
Previously, I completed my PhD under the supervision of Dr Ignasi Ribas at the and the Universitat Aut貌noma de Barcelona, working on the exploitation of high-resolution spectra of M dwarf stars obtained with the instrument. I led the development and application of the cross-correlation technique for CARMENES GTO observations. This work resulted in an to build weighted binary masks, compute cross-correlation functions, and derive radial velocities and stellar variability indicators. I also studied the effects of stellar variability in M dwarf high-resolution spectra using CARMENES data. In particular, I analysed the temporal behaviour of several spectroscopic proxies of stellar activity in a range of M dwarfs of different mass and activity level. I also performed line-by-line studies in a set of active M dwarf stars.
I am a committee member of Equitea.
Selected publications
First author refereed publications
4. Lafarga, M., Ribas, I., Zechmeister, M., Reiners, A., et al., 2023, "The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Sensitivity to activity of M dwarf spectral lines", A&A, 674, A61, DOI:
3. Lafarga, M., Brogi, M., Gandhi, S., Cegla, H. M., et al., 2023, "The hot Neptune WASP-166 b with ESPRESSO III: A blue-shifted tentative water signal constrains the presence of clouds", MNRAS, 521, 1233-1252, DOI:
2. Lafarga, M., Ribas, I., Reiners, A., Quirrenbach, A., et al., 2021, "The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Mapping stellar activity indicators cross the dwarf domain", A&A, 652, A28, DOI:
1. Lafarga, M., Ribas, I., Lovis, C., Perger, M., et al., 2020, "The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Radial velocities and activity indicators from cross-correlation functions with weighted binary masks" A&A, 636, A36, DOI:
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