Meet the NASA Exoplanet Astronomer Who Listens to Preston & Steve Everyday

It’s very common for a person will reach out via e-mail to share details about a topic that we discuss on our show. Every once in a while, the person who reaches out in an actual expert on the topic. In this case, the person is an astrophysicist.

Rob Zellem is an exoplanet astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Why he listens to our show, we have no idea!

On Monday, January 16th, Rob join us for The Space Cowboy. Scroll through a few facts we dug up about Preston & Steve’s favorite NASA employee, then watch the interview below.

• Rob's job description (according to NASA)

  via NASA.org: Rob is an exoplanet astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory working on ground- and space-based observations of the atmospheres of exoplanets, planets outside of our Solar System. Rob is a member of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s Coronograph Instrument (CGI; an instrument that will directly-image exoplanets) Project Science Team and is the lead of developing its Science Calibration Plan. He is the JPL Commissioning Lead of NESSI, a new multi-object spectrograph at Palomar Observatory that will study tens of these alien worlds. He has been involved in benchmarking the performance through simulations of NASA and ESA exoplanet-dedicated missions such as CASE, the NASA contribution to ESA’s ARIEL mission, and the Astro2020 missions Origins Space Telescope and HabEx. He is also the Project Lead of Exoplanet Watch, a citizen science project that will aid in the characterization of exoplanets.

• Local Ties to Philadelphia:

  Rob was born at Lankenau Hospital while his mom was attending Villanova. He grew up in Hendersonville, TN, then traveled back to Villanova for his undergrad. That’s when he discovered The Preston & Steve Show. After that he brought the show along during his studies at University College London in England the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona. Fun facts: When he’s not observing exoplanets, he enjoys jazz piano, cooking, trying not to kill all his plants, brewing beer, playing ice hockey, and fantasizing about retiring to work at Disney. (via NASA.org) 

• NASA Was Not His Dream Job

  Pictured here rocking the bowl cut is 4th grader Rob Zellem, an exoplanet astronomer working on the Roman Coronagraph Instrument; he says he wanted to be a Disney animator when he was growing up and that his favorite subject in school was science! #BacktoSchool pic.twitter.com/cU19ES6hbB

  — Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (@NASARoman) August 15, 2022

• He is a mentor to young scientists:

  In school, I learned about red- and blue-shifting, or Doppler shift, of sound waves. We can use this effect to find and measure the masses of exoplanets, which are planets outside our solar system. - @NASAJPL scientist Rob Zellem studies the atmospheres of exoplanets #BackToSTEM pic.twitter.com/9dJKixCaPd

  — NASAJPL Edu (@NASAJPL_Edu) September 12, 2018

• ...and scientists of all ages:

  Q for Rob Zellem: what are the observational constraints for submitting targets to Exoplanet Watch?
  A: Mostly coverage in the northern hemisphere at the moment. They can reach 10-12 magnitude stars (on par with JWST, Hubble)

  — astrobites (@astrobites) January 10, 2023

• He's looking for your help (yes, you!)

  Help us find exoplanets – no telescope required!
  
  Exoplanet Watch is a #CitizenScience project that invites the public to help identify exoplanet transits, enabling @NASA telescopes to maximize their precious observing time.
  
  Learn how to participate: https://t.co/KhnZW0DEZU pic.twitter.com/9Jw0zsmy8B

  — NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) January 13, 2023

  Was lucky enough to hear Rob Zellem today talk about an amazing exoplanet science project that you--yes, *you*!--can directly contribute tohttps://t.co/XFS7nA4w9O

  — Tessa Fisher (@spacermase) November 10, 2022

• Here's How to Get involved:

  🔭🌏🤲 Rob Zellem, exoplanet astronomer at @NASAJPL, presenting: Exoplanet Watch: You Can Help NASA Observe Other Worlds!#GHOU2022 @galileoteachers @nuclio_pt #MEPSIndia @IASC_Search @SchoolsObs @faulkestel @esia_eu @GlobalSciOpera pic.twitter.com/cIU6jMLFDb

  — Galileo Teachers (@galileoteachers) August 24, 2022

• Watch Rob Zellem on The Preston & Steve Show: