Biography
William is an astronomer, freelance science journalist, and author. They use the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to study planets in other solar systems. They are a Ph.D candidate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD (Piscataway land). They were NASA’s Maryland Space Grant Observatory Fellow for the 2022-2023 academic year. This static site hosts William’s CV and links to their peer-reviewed articles and presentations. You can read an informal description of their research, peruse various blog posts, and more on their personal website. Last updated 2023/10/12.
- Optical interferometry 💫
- High contrast imaging 🌟
- Self-luminous giant planets 🪐
- Atmospheric retrievals ☁️
- Accretion & variability ☄️
Graduate (Ph.D.) student in Astronomy, 2021-present
Johns Hopkins University
Bachelors of Arts cum laude in Astronomy and in Physics, 2017-2021
Amherst College
Select Publications
Research Presentations
Selected invited talks or conference proceedings. Where possible I’ve included links to slides or posters associated with my presentations. Last updated 2023/08/23
“A missing link? First look at the L-T transition planet AF Lep b with VLTI/GRAVITY and JWST/NIRCam” ESO Star and Planet Formation Seminar, Nov. 21st, 2023
“The Unexpected Detection of HR 8799 e [with JWST] and Implications for Cycle 3” STScI Spring Symposium, May 18th, 2023
“Optical Interferometry of Exoplanets & Brown Dwarfs” American Museum of Natural History Astrophysics Colloqium, February 14th, 2023
“Optical Interferometry of Exoplanets & Brown Dwarfs” STScI HotSci Talk Series, August 17th, 2022
“Unprecedented precision: using VLTI/GRAVITY jointly with Gaia to characterize substellar companions near and far, young and old” Cool Stars 21 (talk), July 2022, Toulouse
“The orbit and Hα variability of HD 142527B” Cool Stars 21 (poster), July 2022, Toulouse
“The orbit and Hα variability of HD 142527B” STScI Spring Symposium, April 19th-24th, 2021
Outreach
Outreach Activites
Observatory Fellow, Maryland Space Grant Consortium | September 2022 - May 2023
Volunteer, Maryland Space Grant Observatory | May 2023 - present
Volunteer, Youth in Engineering and Astronomy, STScI | October 2022 - present
Author, Astrobites, the astro-ph reader’s digest | December 2021 - present
Author, personal blog | June 2018 – present
Astronomy Editor, Amherst STEM Network | October 2019 – May 2021
Public Talks
“How to take pictures of planets in other solar systems” North County High School, June 2023
“Directly Imaging Exoplanets, determining their orbits and atmospheres” Howard Astronomical League, June 16th, 2022
“The Growth of Young Stars and Protoplanets!” Balticon 56, May 27th, 2022
“Adolescent astronomy: Planet formation, Direct imaging, and early-career astronomy research” UMass Astronomy Club, April 20th, 2021
In the Press
Articles I’ve written or been interviewed for. Last updated 2023/10/12.
“How astronomers search for life on exoplanets” by William Balmer for The Planetary Society, Oct 11, 2023
“Where do Hot-Jupiters come from? RV population statistics suggests planet-planet interactions” by William Balmer for Astrobites, Oct 11, 2023
“Advisee to Advising (your first research student)” by William Balmer for Astrobites, Jul 28, 2023
“Did early Earth order delivery, or did it make its oceans at home?” by William Balmer for Astrobites, Apr 27, 2023
“Newly discovered planet AF Lep is leading its star astray” by William Balmer for Astrobites, Feb 25, 2023
“Dancing with the (Six) Stars, or, a 200 year story of the Castor system” by William Balmer for Astrobites, Nov 7, 2022
“JWST’s carbon dioxide discovery is good news for Earth-like worlds” by William Balmer for The Planetary Society, Sep 27, 2022
“Fly-bye, Baby: a review of the impact of stellar flybys on protoplanetary disks” by William Balmer for Astrobites, Aug 23, 2022
“What might JWST reveal about TRAPPIST-1?” by William Balmer for The Planetary Society, June 9th, 2022.
“Flipping the table: inferring planet formation from atmospheric composition” by William Balmer for Astrobites, May 6th, 2022.
“Herald of the Change: A microlensing Jupiter-analogue spotted in K2 data portends Roman’s yield of new planets” by William Balmer for Astrobites, April 11th, 2022.
“Peek-a-boo! Forming Moons Revealed Around a Baby Planet” by William Balmer for Astrobites, February 9th, 2022.
“Reaching for the Stars: William Balmer Thesis Spotlight” by Sarah Lapean in The Amherst STEM Network on May 14th, 2021.
“The Orbit and Growth of HD 142527B” by William Balmer for Astrobites, March 14th, 2021.
“Planetary cradles: UMass/FCAD colloquium speaker Feng Long presents ALMA view of early solar systems” by William Balmer in The Amherst STEM Network Magazine, Issue 1.3, Fall 2020.
“What makes a planet? Daniela Bardalez Gagliuffi seeks answers in the lowest mass stars” by William Balmer in The Amherst STEM Network Magazine, Issue 1.1, Spring 2020.