Harvard astronomy seniors kick off careers with thesis presentations at the CfA

Cambridge, MA (April 27, 2026) — Six Harvard undergraduate astronomers presented their senior theses at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian this week, concluding a year of intensive training and hands-on research under CfA scientists.

The students’ presentations, which took place in the Phillips Auditorium on April 27, ranged from astrochemistry and Earth-like planet atmosphere formation to unusual movement patterns by red supergiant star Betelgeuse. The students’ advisors include professors from the Harvard Department of Astronomy and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

Presenter Amaan Khwaja, who is bound for graduate studies at Caltech this fall, presented on Betelgeuse’s enigmatic long secondary periods: periods of high-amplitude brightness variations relatively uncommon among pulsating red supergiants. 

“The most rewarding thing is when you run a simulation and you get to see it work,” Khwaja reflected. “It took quite a while for me to properly implement Betelgeuse's wind in my model.”

But Khwaja found that the eventual payoff was worth it. 

“It was such a beautiful sight to see my wind working for the first time [in the simulation],” he said.  “To see all these plumes evolve outwards and reproduce [what we think is] an actual stellar wind is just so incredible to me.”

Hannah Burrows, who studied under the CfA’s astrochemist Karin Öberg, presented her thesis on the production of organic molecules in the early stages of planetary formation. Burrows, like most of the seniors who presented, will begin graduate school this September — she’s been accepted to a Ph.D. program in astrochemistry at the University of Chicago.

“What is life? Where did life come from? How are we forming planets?” Burrows asked. She said she enjoys the excitement of the study of exoplanets because it’s one of the fastest growing fields in astrophysics.

Though Burrows will be leaving the CfA after she graduates in May, she’ll still work with her colleagues here: her future Ph.D. advisor at Chicago, Diana Powell, is a former CfA scientist and current collaborator with Öberg and her postdoctoral researcher, Alice Booth. The world of astrochemistry is “very small”, said Burrows, which she added makes it even more fun — and she enjoyed meeting with other astrochemists while attending the 2025 and 2026 American Astronomical Society winter meetings as part of her program.

Presenter Logan Wilson, who will join Khwaja for graduate studies at Caltech this fall, spoke on his novel analysis of atmospheric chemistry in protoplanetary disks. At Caltech, Wilson will study under CfA alumna Heather Knutson, and intends to move from astrochemical modeling to in vivo observations of exoplanets to test the predictions of the model he worked on at Harvard.

The program was directed this year by astronomer Charles Alcock, a longtime CfA scientist and director of the CfA from 2004–2022.

“One of the beauties of the Center for Astrophysics is there’s a very strong collaborative relationship [between the Harvard and Smithsonian],” said Alcock, adding that the unique setup fosters extensive collaboration and can lead to significant discoveries.

Alcock noted that nearly all of the students’ papers will be published in major astrophysics journals, in many cases with students appearing as first author. 

The six presentations included:

Hannah Burrows: "Forming Organics and Planets: Carbon Isotope Fractionation within H2CO in Class II Protoplanetary Disks.” Advisor: Karin Öberg. 

Jasmine Palmer Gomez: “Large-Scale Cross-Correlations between the Lyman-a Forest and Cosmic Infared Background.” Advisor: Daniel Eisenstein. 

Amaan Khwaja: "Dancing in the Dust: Investigating the Binary Origin of Betelgeuse's Long Secondary Period via 3D Hydrodynamic Simulations." Advisor: Morgan McLeod

Sophie Kiran Magaro: “Anatomy of the W49 G region from ALMA.” Advisor: David Wilner. 

Larom Segev: “Cloudy with a Chance of Data: A Dynamic Scheduler for All-Sky Surveys with Real-Time Optimization.” Advisor: Christopher Stubbs

Logan Wilson: "Protoplanetary Disk Inheritance and the evolution of Small-Exoplanet Atmospheres." Advisor: Robin Wordsworth