Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

9-2025

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Program

Astrophysics

Advisor

Knicole Colón

Advisor

Caleb I. Cañas

Subject Categories

Other Astrophysics and Astronomy | Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy

Abstract

The study of gas giants around low-mass stars offers important insight into planet formation. Core accretion models predict that these planets should have a low likelihood of forming due to the limited disk masses of their host low-mass stars. However, NASA space missions such as Kepler and TESS have revealed an emerging population of Saturn- and Jupiter-like planets around M-dwarfs (referred to as giant exoplanets orbiting M-dwarfs or GEMS) that challenge these expectations. This thesis investigates the detection, confirmation, and analysis of GEMS through pipeline development and a detailed analysis of two systems.

In Chapter 1, I provide background information about exoplanets, and important mission work, techniques, and details relevant to this work. In Chapter 2, I present the joint transit and radial velocity analysis pipeline I used to study the system EPIC 212813907. The pipeline uses Hamiltonian Monte Carlo methods to extract planetary parameters while correcting for stellar variability and instrumental errors. In Chapter 3, I report the confirmation and characterization of TOI-5349b, a warm, Saturn-like planet orbiting a metal-rich M dwarf. Using TESS and ground-based photometry from the Red Buttes Observatory (RBO) and Pomona College, as well as high-precision radial velocity data from the Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF) and the M-dwarf Advanced Radial velocity Observer Of Neighboring eXoplanets (MAROON-X), I constrain and refine stellar and planetary properties. With this study, I determine TOI-5349b as a promising candidate for JWST and Roman observations. Chapter 4 summarizes our findings, highlighting the main outcomes which are: (i) the development of a joint modeling pipeline, (ii) the in-depth analysis of TOI-5349b, serving as a benchmark for Saturn-like GEMS, and (iii) the significance of GEMS population trends, such as the preference of orbiting metal-rich hosts. It also discusses limitations and challenges. Finally, it outlines future prospects, such as expanding the pipeline to other systems, the progress of ongoing surveys in building a statistically significant sample, and atmospheric characterization prospects with other facilities.

By combining pipeline development, detailed system characterization, and population-level analysis, this thesis advances our understanding of how gas giants form and evolve in low-mass stellar environments while establishing TOI-5349b as a benchmark target for comparative studies and atmospheric investigations.

Download

This work is embargoed and will be available for download on Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Share

COinS