Pavan Tanna

About Me

I'm Pavan Tanna, a STFC PhD student at the Institute of Astronomy and Peterhouse within the University of Cambridge. I am interested in planetary habitability and the search for extraterrestrial life by modelling the climates, oceans and surface atmosphere interactions of exoplanets. I am part of the Planetary Chemistry group at the University of Cambridge, led by Professor Oliver Shorttle.

Current Work

I am currently studying ocean exoplanets, planets covered by a large world spanning ocean, and their climate stability. By using a 1D radiative convective atmosphere models to look at planet's climate and greenhouse effect and an ocean chemistry model, different climate feedbacks can be studied.

Previous Work

My master's thesis was on the detectability of planetary impacts in exoplanetary systems. I simulated a series of planetary impacts, similar to the one that resulted in the formartion of the Earth's moon, using the SPH hydrodynamics code SWIFT. I then developed a model for the emission and cooling of the hot remnants formed by the impacts. By comparing the calculated lunimosities and cooling timescales of these remnants with the capabilities of observatories such as Gaia and Vera Rubin, I determined how many impacts we should expect to observe in the coming decade.

Astrophotography

When the skies of Cambridge are clear, I like to use my telescope to photograph various astronomical objects. I primarily use an Explore Scientific ED102 telescope with an EQ5 PRO telescope mount. Below is a selection of my best work.

Messier 51

IC 1396

Barnard 33

NGC 6995

The Moon

C/2020 F3

NGC 6960

Partial Lunar Eclipse

Messier 16

Contact

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• GitHub

Elements

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