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Exoplanet Astronomer
  • B.S, Astronomy & Physics
    2012, University of Washington
  • M.S, Astronomy
    2015, New Mexico State University
  • Ph.D, Astronomy
    2017, New Mexico State University

Dr. Laura C. Mayorga is professional staff at APL. She is an astronomer whose research focuses on understanding the atmospheres and surfaces of extrasolar planets. At APL she works with several planetary mission instruments to conduct studies of solar system objects as exoplanet analogs. Her pioneer efforts with using Cassini observations of the Jupiter system inform direct imaging mission requirements for the detection and characterization of exoplanets. She also has expertise in atmospheric simulations of giant planets and measuring the orbital phase curves of transiting exoplanets with TESS, Kepler, HST, and JWST.

Notable Awards and Leadership

Year(s) Description
2014 Chambliss Achievement Student Award from The American Astronomical Society
2013 NSF GRFP Fellow
2013 New Mexico Higher Education Department Graduate Scholarship

Scholarly Publications

Hotter than Expected: Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/WFC3 Phase-resolved Spectroscopy of a Rare Irradiated Brown Dwarf with Strong Internal Heat Flux

The Astrophysical Journal, 2023
Rachael C. Amaro, Dániel Apai, Yifan Zhou, Ben W. P. Lew, Sarah L. Casewell, L. C. Mayorga, Mark S. Marley, Xianyu Tan, Joshua D. Lothringer, Vivien Parmentier, Travis Barman, (2023), Hotter than Expected: Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/WFC3 Phase-resolved Spectroscopy of a Rare Irradiated Brown Dwarf with Strong Internal Heat Flux, The Astrophysical Journal

A WISPR of the Venus Surface: Analysis of the Venus Nightside Thermal Emission at Optical Wavelengths

The Planetary Science Journal, 2023
J. Lustig-Yaeger, N. R. Izenberg, M. S. Gilmore, L. C. Mayorga, E. M. May, A. Vourlidas, P. Hess, B. E. Wood, R. A. Howard, N. E. Raouafi, G. N. Arney, (2023), A WISPR of the Venus Surface: Analysis of the Venus Nightside Thermal Emission at Optical Wavelengths, The Planetary Science Journal

On the Effectiveness of the Planetary Infrared Excess (PIE) Technique to Retrieve the Parameters of Multiplanet Systems around M Dwarfs: A Case Study on the TRAPPIST-1 System

The Astrophysical Journal, 2023
L. C. Mayorga, J. Lustig-Yaeger, K. B. Stevenson, (2023), On the Effectiveness of the Planetary Infrared Excess (PIE) Technique to Retrieve the Parameters of Multiplanet Systems around M Dwarfs: A Case Study on the TRAPPIST-1 System, The Astrophysical Journal

High Tide or Riptide on the Cosmic Shoreline? A Water-rich Atmosphere or Stellar Contamination for the Warm Super-Earth GJ 486b from JWST Observations

The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2023
Sarah E. Moran, Kevin B. Stevenson, David K. Sing, Ryan J. MacDonald, James Kirk, Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, Sarah Peacock, L. C. Mayorga, Katherine A. Bennett, Mercedes López-Morales, E. M. May, Zafar Rustamkulov, Jeff A. Valenti, Jéa I. Adams Redai, Munazza K. Alam, Natasha E. Batalha, Guangwei Fu, Junellie Gonzalez-Quiles, Alicia N. Highland, Ethan Kruse, Joshua D. Lothringer, Kevin N. Ortiz Ceballos, Kristin S. Sotzen, Hannah R. Wakeford, (2023), High Tide or Riptide on the Cosmic Shoreline? A Water-rich Atmosphere or Stellar Contamination for the Warm Super-Earth GJ 486b from JWST Observations, The Astrophysical Journal Letters

Mapping the Pressure-dependent Day–Night Temperature Contrast of a Strongly Irradiated Atmosphere with HST Spectroscopic Phase Curve

The Astronomical Journal, 2022
Ben W. P. Lew, Dániel Apai, Yifan Zhou, Mark Marley, L. C. Mayorga, Xianyu Tan, Vivien Parmentier, Sarah Casewell, Siyi Xu (许偲艺), (2021), Mapping the Pressure-dependent DaytextendashNight Temperature Contrast of a Strongly Irradiated Atmosphere with HST Spectroscopic Phase Curve, The Astronomical Journal , 163, 1, 8, https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac3001

HST/WFC3 Complete Phase-resolved Spectroscopy of White-dwarf-brown-dwarf Binaries WD 0137 and EPIC 2122

The Astronomical Journal, 2022
Yifan Zhou, Dániel Apai, Xianyu Tan, Joshua D. Lothringer, Ben W. P. Lew, Sarah L. Casewell, Vivien Parmentier, Mark S. Marley, Siyi 偲艺 Xu 许, L. C. Mayorga, (2022), HST/WFC3 Complete Phase-resolved Spectroscopy of White-dwarf-brown-dwarf Binaries WD 0137 and EPIC 2122, The Astronomical Journal

Hierarchical Bayesian Atmospheric Retrieval Modeling for Population Studies of Exoplanet Atmospheres: A Case Study on the Habitable Zone

The Astronomical Journal, 2022
Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, Kristin S. Sotzen, Kevin B. Stevenson, Rodrigo Luger, Erin M. May, L. C. Mayorga, Kathleen Mandt, Noam R. Izenberg, (2022), Hierarchical Bayesian Atmospheric Retrieval Modeling for Population Studies of Exoplanet Atmospheres: A Case Study on the Habitable Zone, The Astronomical Journal , 163, 3, 140, https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac5034

Detection of Rotational Variability in Floofy Objects at Optical Wavelengths

arXiv e-prints, 2021
L. C. Mayorga, E. M. May, J. Lustig-Yaeger, S. E Moran, (2021), Detection of Rotational Variability in Floofy Objects at Optical Wavelengths, arXiv e-prints

The Dark World: A Tale of WASP-43b in Reflected Light with HST WFC3/UVIS

The Astronomical Journal, 2021
Jonathan Fraine, L. C. Mayorga, Kevin B. Stevenson, Nikole K. Lewis, Tiffany Kataria, Jacob L. Bean, Giovanni Bruno, Jonathan J. Fortney, Laura Kreidberg, Caroline V. Morley, Nelly C Mouawad, Kamen O. Todorov, Vivien Parmentier, Hannah Wakeford, Y. Katherina Feng, Brian M. Kilpatrick, Michael R. Line, (2021), The Dark World: A Tale of WASP-43b in Reflected Light with HST WFC3/UVIS, The Astronomical Journal , 161, 6, 269, https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/abe8d6

Variable Irradiation on 1D Cloudless Eccentric Exoplanet Atmospheres

The Astrophysical Journal, 2021
L. C. Mayorga, Tyler D. Robinson, Mark S. Marley, E. M. May, Kevin B. Stevenson, (2021), Variable Irradiation on 1D Cloudless Eccentric Exoplanet Atmospheres, The Astrophysical Journal

Transmission Spectroscopy of the Earth–Sun System to Inform the Search for Extrasolar Life

The Planetary Science Journal, 2021
L. C. Mayorga, J. Lustig-Yaeger, E. M. May, Kristin S. Sotzen, Junellie Gonzalez-Quiles, Brian M. Kilpatrick, Emily C. Martin, Kathleen Mandt, K. B. Stevenson, N. R. Izenberg, (2021), Transmission Spectroscopy of the EarthtextendashSun System to Inform the Search for Extrasolar Life, The Planetary Science Journal , 2, 4, 140, https://doi.org/10.3847/psj/ac0c85

Retrieving Exoplanet Atmospheres Using Planetary Infrared Excess: Prospects for the Night Side of WASP-43 b and Other Hot Jupiters

The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2021
Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, Kevin B. Stevenson, L. C. Mayorga, Kristin Showalter Sotzen, Erin M. May, Noam R. Izenberg, Kathleen Mandt, (2021), Retrieving Exoplanet Atmospheres Using Planetary Infrared Excess: Prospects for the Night Side of WASP-43 b and Other Hot Jupiters, The Astrophysical Journal Letters

Reflected Light Observations of the Galilean Satellites from Cassini: A Test Bed for Cold Terrestrial Exoplanets

The Astronomical Journal, 2020
L. C. Mayorga, David Charbonneau, D. P. Thorngren, (2020), Reflected Light Observations of the Galilean Satellites from Cassini: A Test Bed for Cold Terrestrial Exoplanets, The Astronomical Journal

Reflected Light Phase Curves in the TESS Era

The Astronomical Journal, 2019
L. C. Mayorga, Natasha E. Batalha, Nikole K. Lewis, Mark S. Marley, (2019), Reflected Light Phase Curves in the TESS Era, The Astronomical Journal

Imaging Cool Giant Planets in Reflected Light: Science Investigations and Synergy with Habitable Planets

Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 2019
Mark Marley, Nikole Lewis, Giada Arney, Vanessa Bailey, Natasha Batalha, Charles Beichman, Björn Benneke, Jasmina Blecic, Kerri Cahoy, Jeffrey Chilcote, Shawn Domagal-Goldman, Courtney Dressing, Michael Fitzgerald, Jonathan Fortney, Richard Freedman, Dawn Gelino, John Gizis, Olivier Guyon, Thomas Greene, Heidi Hammel, Yasuhiro Hasegawa, Nemanja Jovanovic, Quinn Konopacky, Ravi Kopparapu, Michael Liu, Eric Lopez, Jonathan Lunine, Roxana Lupu, Bruce Macintosh, Kathleen Mandt, Christian Marois, Dimitri Mawet, Laura Mayorga, Caroline Morley, Eric Nielsen, Aki Roberge, Eugene Serabyn, Andrew Skemer, Karl Stapelfeldt, Channon Vischer, Jason Wang, (2019), Imaging Cool Giant Planets in Reflected Light: Science Investigations and Synergy with Habitable Planets, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society

Phantom Inflated Planets in Occurrence Rate Based Samples

Research Notes of the AAS, 2018
L. C. Mayorga, Daniel P. Thorngren, (2018), Phantom Inflated Planets in Occurrence Rate Based Samples, Research Notes of the AAS

The Orbital and Planetary Phase Variations of Jupiter-sized Planets: Characterizing Present and Future Giants

American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #231, 2018
Laura C. Mayorga, Jason Jackiewicz, Kathy Rages, Robert West, Ben Knowles, Nikole K. Lewis, Mark S. Marley, (2018), The Orbital and Planetary Phase Variations of Jupiter-sized Planets: Characterizing Present and Future Giants, American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #231

JUPITER’S PHASE VARIATIONS FROM CASSINI: A TESTBED FOR FUTURE DIRECT-IMAGING MISSIONS

The Astronomical Journal, 2016
L. C. Mayorga, J. Jackiewicz, K. Rages, R. A. West, B. Knowles, N. Lewis, M. S. Marley, (2016), JUPITER’S PHASE VARIATIONS FROM CASSINI: A TESTBED FOR FUTURE DIRECT-IMAGING MISSIONS, The Astronomical Journal

An Integrated Analysis of Martian Surface Compositions Using Near Infrared Through Thermal Infrared Spectroscopic Data

Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 2009
J. L. Bandfield, L. C. Mayorga, C. S. Edwards, T. D. Glotch, (2009), An Integrated Analysis of Martian Surface Compositions Using Near Infrared Through Thermal Infrared Spectroscopic Data, Lunar and Planetary Science Conference