ALTITUDE – FALL – 2023

FEATURE (continued)

This incredible opportunity started when Pavao stopped by Richardson’s office in hopes of getting more research experience. “I said, ‘Please give me any research,’” Pavao recalled. Richardson happened to have data, captured by the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory’s 1.5-meter telescope in Chile, from a bright star known as a Be-type star. Pavao plotted the spectra of the Be star, but first, she had to clean the data of visual “noise.” She managed to learn more about data processing and computer coding so that she could analyze the stellar spectra. After quickly fitting Pavao’s data into a special computer program, Richardson realized they had found an orbit for the star, but it was different than expected. Further data-crunching revealed that one star was indeed tracing a circle around the other one every 60 days or so. Pavao recalls Richardson saying, “This is not just a simple binary system.” A native of Belleville, Illinois, Pavao grew up in a science-focused family. Her father is a computer scientist, and her mother is a geologist and amateur astronomer. Embry-Riddle also gave Pavao the chance for an undergraduate research experience at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, where she met scientists, including

When we look at these objects, we’re looking backward through time. We get to know more about the origins of the universe, which will tell us where our solar system is headed. As humans, we started out with the same elements as these stars.”

Clarissa Pavao ’23 Space Physics

Jill Tarter, who was played by actress Jodi Foster in the movie “Contact.”

“It was a life-changing experience,” Pavao said. “Later on in life, I’ll be able to say I went to this observatory and looked for techno-signatures from outer space.” Pavao also credits Richardson with guiding her research and giving her the confidence to succeed. “He pushes for his students to be on papers,” she noted. “That made a big difference for me.”

15 | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

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