Tabetha Boyajian

Associate Professor Louisiana State University

  • Baton Rouge LA

Dr. Boyajian is active in the fields of stellar interferometry/spectroscopy, exoplanet research, and high angular resolution astronomy.

Contact

Louisiana State University

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Biography

Tabetha "Tabby" Boyajian is an astronomer and astrophysicist on faculty at Louisiana State University. Boyajian is active in the astronomical fields of stellar interferometry, stellar spectroscopy, exoplanet research, and high angular resolution astronomy, all particularly at optical and infrared wavelengths. She was the lead author of the September 2015 paper "Where's the Flux?", which investigated the highly unusual light curve of KIC 8462852; the star is colloquially known as Tabby's Star in her honor.

Boyajian received a BS degree in Physics with concentration in Astronomy from the College of Charleston in 2003, an MS degree in Physics from Georgia State University in 2005, and a PhD degree in Philosophy of Astronomy from the same university in 2009. She studied the sizes of nearby stars similar to the Sun, using the University's CHARA array, a long-baseline optical and infrared interferometer located at Mount Wilson Observatory. Boyajian was awarded a Hubble Fellowship, and stayed at Georgia State University to study sizes of nearby stars much smaller than the Sun and stars with planets.

Areas of Expertise

Stellar Characterization
Time‑Domain Astrophysics
Exoplanet Host Stars
Astrophysics
Astronomy
Anomalous Objects

Research Focus

Stellar Characterization & Time‑Domain Astrophysics

Dr. Boyajian’s research focuses on stellar characterization, variability, and time‑domain astrophysics, with emphasis on exoplanet host stars and anomalous objects such as KIC 8462852 (“Boyajian’s Star”). She uses optical/IR interferometry, high‑resolution spectroscopy, and coordinated space‑ and ground‑based photometric monitoring—including citizen‑science networks—to determine stellar properties and probe circumstellar environments.

Education

Georgia State University

Ph.D.

Astronomy

2009

Georgia State University

M.S.

Physics

2005

College of Charleston

B.S.

Physics

2003

Media Appearances

It may not be natural ― NASA detects ‘unusual brightening patterns’ in this star

El Diario 24  online

2025-07-02

Tabby’s Star was first discovered by the public in 2016, when amateur astronomers studying data collected by the NASA Kepler space telescope mission determined it would dim as much as 22 percent temporarily before brightness normalized. “Stars just don’t do that,” lead author of the original paper, Tabetha Boyajian.

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‘Is it aliens?’: how a mysterious star could help the search for extraterrestrial life

The Guardian  online

2024-04-27

It is our galaxy’s strangest star, a flickering globe of light whose sporadic and unpredictable output has baffled astronomers for years. But now the study of Boyajian’s star is being promoted as a research model that could help in one of the most intriguing of all scientific quests: finding intelligent life on other worlds.

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Mysterious 'alien megastructure' star may not be so special after all

NBC News  online

2019-09-19

When the researchers analyzed data from NASA's Kepler space telescope, astronomer Tabetha "Tabby" Boyajian, then at Yale University, and her colleagues found dozens of odd instances of KIC 8462852 dimming by up to 22 percent, with such dips lasting anywhere from a few days to a week. These events did not appear to follow any pattern and seemed far too substantial to be caused by planets or dust crossing the star's face.

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Articles

Measuring the stellar and planetary parameters of the 51 Eridani system

Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

2024

In order to study exoplanets, a comprehensive characterisation of the fundamental properties of the host stars – such as angular diameter, temperature, luminosity, and age, is essential, as the formation and evolution of exoplanets are directly influenced by the host stars at various points in time. In this paper, we present interferometric observations taken of directly imaged planet host 51 Eridani at the CHARA Array. We measure the limb-darkened angular diameter of 51 Eridani to be for 51 Eri b using the Sonora Bobcat models, which further supports the possibility of 51 Eri b forming under either the hot-start formation model or the warm-start formation model.

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Fundamental Properties of Three Metal-Poor Stars with Optical/NIR Interferometry

Bulletin of the American Physical Society

2023

Angular diameters of three metal-poor and one solar metallicity star—HD 184499, HD 22879, and HD 76932 and HD 108510—were measured using the CHARA Array interferometer. Angular diameters θ LD= 0.403±0.004, 0.397±0.006, 0.570±0.005, and 0.360±0.006 mas were found for HD 184499, HD 22879, HD 76932, and HD 108510, respectively. Using these diameters combined with Hipparcos parallaxes and literature values for bolometric flux, linear radii R= 1.38±0.02, 1.09±0.02, 1.29±0.01, and 1.16±0.03 R☉; effective temperatures T eff= 5824±47, 5856±50, 5913±47, and 5950±84 K; and luminosities L= 1.97±0.07, 1.26±0.04, 1.82±0.05, and 1.50±0.09 L☉ were calculated. Given these values along with literature values for [Fe/H], the Python package Kīauhōkū was used to compute an age and mass for each star from four stellar model grids.

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Validation of TOI-1221 b: A Warm Sub-Neptune Exhibiting Transit Timing Variations around a Sun-like Star

The Astronomical Journal

2023

We present a validation of a long-period (91.68278 0.00041 0.00032-+ days) transiting sub-Neptune planet, TOI-1221b (TIC 349095149.01), around a Sun-like (mV= 10.5) star. This is one of the few known exoplanets with a period> 50 days, and belongs to the even smaller subset of which have bright enough hosts for detailed spectroscopic follow-up. We combine Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite light curves and ground-based time-series photometry from the Perth Exoplanet Survey Telescope (0.3 m) and Las Cumbres Observatory global telescope network (1.0 m) to analyze the transit signals and rule out nearby stars as potential false-positive sources. High-contrast imaging from the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope and Gemini/Zorro rule out nearby stellar contaminants.

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Affiliations

  • International Astronomical Union

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