Catarina Silva Fernandes
Papers
2
Total Citations
95
H-Index
2
About
Catarina Silva Fernandes is a leading figure in exoplanet science, specializing in the detection and characterization of terrestrial planets around the smallest and coolest stars in the galaxy. Her primary research focuses on ultracool dwarfs—stars of spectral type M7 and later—and the development of dedicated survey infrastructure to find Earth-sized worlds in their habitable zones. Fernandes is best known for her instrumental role in the SPECULOOS project, a network of 1-meter-class robotic telescopes designed to hunt for transiting temperate terrestrial planets around the nearest ~1,200 ultracool dwarfs. Her foundational 2018 paper describing the SPECULOOS survey has accumulated over 95 citations, underscoring its importance in shaping the field’s observational strategy. By targeting stars bright enough in the infrared (K-mag ≤ 12.5) to enable future atmospheric characterization with telescopes like JWST, Fernandes’s work directly bridges the gap between discovery and detailed exoplanet study. Her contributions are pivotal to the next generation of exoplanet science, pushing the frontier toward the ultimate goal of finding signs of life beyond Earth.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
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