Selected News, Press & Interviews
2021 IAU PhD Prize Winners Announced (May 2022, link)
I was awarded a PhD Prize by the International Astronomical Union for my thesis research.
Tucana II discovery featured on the Science Channel (March 2022, link)
The discovery of an extended halo around the Tucana II dwarf galaxy (Chiti et al. 2021, Nat Astron, 5, 392) was featured in Season 10, Episode 4 of How the Universe Works on the Science Channel in an episode about dark matter.
Interview with PulsarTalks (January 2022, link)
I gave a ~10 min interview for the PulsarTalks youtube channel, which presents short interviews with researchers and experts around the world. We discussed my research, the field of Galactic Archaeology, life as PhD student, and more.
Press for: An extended halo around an ancient dwarf galaxy (Chiti et al. 2021, Nat. Astron, 5, 392)
In Feb 2021, I published a paper in Nature Astronomy that presented an extended component of stars around the Tucana II ultra-faint dwarf galaxy, suggesting that this ancient galaxy inhabited an extended distribution of dark matter. This discovery was featured in over 35 news outlets, and I've included some links below-
CNN, the Guardian, MIT News, Sky & Telescope, Gizmodo. I also gave an interview for German National Radio, but (understandably) my voice was dubbed over in German.
Press for: Discovery of 18 stars with -3.10 < [Fe/H] < -1.45 in the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy (Chiti et al. 2020, ApJ, 901, 164)
In 2020, I published a paper in the Astrophysical Journal that presented the discovery of a population of ancient, very and extremely metal-poor stars in the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. This discovery and its implications were featured in an article on Phys.org.
Press for: The lowest detected stellar Fe abundance: The halo star SMSS J160540.18-144323.1 (Nordlander et al. 2019, MNRAS, 488, 1)
In 2019, I was a co-author on a study led by Thomas Nordlander that discovered the most iron-poor star with a detected iron abundance. This discovery was featured in multiple new outlets, including Sci-News, Phys.org, and Universe Today.
Press for: R-process enrichment from a single event in an ancient dwarf galaxy (Ji et al. 2016, Nature, 531, 610)
In 2016, I was a co-author on a study led by Alex Ji that discovered a copious amount of r-process enrichment in the stars in an ancient ultra-faint dwarf galaxy. This discovery isolated the astrophysical site of this nucleosynthetic process, which is responsible for producing a significant fraction of the heavy elements in the universe. The result was featured on MIT News, Phys.org, and was included in a feature on the cosmic origin of gold.