My primary research interest is stellar structure and evolution, with a focus on late evolutionary stages and stellar variability. Since my PhD project I have been working on the computation and analysis of wide grids of non-adiabatic, radial pulsation models of evolved red giants, aimed at providing the community with up-to-date, easy-to-use prescriptions to predict the variability properties of long-period variables. In its most recent iteration, this reasearch led to the first accurate prescription for describing the variability periods of Mira-like large-amplitude pulsators. I am also interested in the analysis of observational data on stellar variability from large-scale surveys. I am a member of the Data Processing & Analysis Consortium of the ESA Gaia mission, in which I have been working on the preparation of the most recent catalog of long-period variables, and I am a Junior Associate in the Rubin-LSST Italian Scientific Collaboration.
Research
Projects
I am PI of the CONVERGENCE project, funded by the University of Padova through the STARS@UniPd 2023 scheme. The project aims at developing a descriptive model of the long secondary periods observed together with pulsation in the light curves of evolved red giants. The origin of this phenomenon is still debated, and one of the main interpretations involves accretion on a substellar companion resulting in a dust cloud that periodically attenuates the stellar light. The final goal of CONVERGENCE is constrain stellar mass loss rates and characterize the population of accreting substellar companions in the Milky Way and in the Magellanic Clouds.
Publications
Below you can find a selection of my main scientific papers (click on the titles to show summary panels).
A complete list of my publications can be found at the NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) .
Main Collaborations
Past Collaborations
Conferences, Seminars, Talks
Teaching
At the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Padova I am involved in teaching and mentoring activities. Since 2023 I am responsible for the course unit "Advanced Astrophysics" for the Master's Degree in Astrophysics and Cosmology at the University of Padova.
Past Teaching Experiences
Outreach
Since 2018 I am engaged in outreach activities aimed at promoting the understanding of science and the scientific method among the general public. In particular, I have been involved in the organization of the European Researchers' Night in Padova, and later on in the Science 4 All activities of the University of Padova.
As a Gaia DPAC member I take part in the outreach activities and events organized for the Data Release days. As main author of one of the Gaia Focused Product Release papers I actively contributed to the organization of local events in Padova.
As a Gaia DPAC member I take part in the outreach activities and events organized for the Data Release days. As main author of one of the Gaia Focused Product Release papers I actively contributed to the organization of local events in Padova.
Bio
I graduated in Astronomy at the University of Padova in 2014, with a thesis on the modelling of solar like oscillations in red giant branch stars.
I then obtained a PhD in Astronomy at the same institution in 2018, working within the STARKEY project on the computation and analysis of non-adiabatic pulsation models of evolved red giants.
From 2020 to 2022 I worked as a postdoc at the University of Geneva, studying the use of semi-regular red giant variables as standard candles and contributing to the preparation of the Gaia Data Release 3.
I am currently a Research Fellow at the Department of Physics & Astronomy of the University of Padova.
Download my CV