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About

Daniel Sebastian is a leading figure in the search for habitable exoplanets, specializing in the detection of temperate, Earth-sized worlds orbiting ultracool dwarf stars. As a key member of the SPECULOOS (Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars) project, Sebastian has been instrumental in designing and operating a global network of robotic 1-meter telescopes. His major contributions include leading the scientific commissioning and performance characterization of the SPECULOOS-South observatory at ESO Paranal, Chile, and establishing the SPECULOOS Northern Observatory, which together survey the nearest and smallest stars for transiting planets. His work has directly shaped the project’s target list and observational strategy, focusing on stars small and near enough to enable detailed atmospheric characterization with next-generation facilities like the James Webb Space Telescope. With over 200 citations across his most influential papers, Sebastian’s research has laid the critical groundwork for discovering potentially habitable planets amenable to follow-up study. His dedication to pushing the boundaries of ground-based transit surveys makes him a pivotal contributor to the next era of exoplanet science.