photographist

“I’m very curious by nature and astrophysics seems to be the field where the biggest mysteries lie. By convention, massive stars have eight or more solar masses. We know that stars with around one solar mass are formed through the slow collapse of a cloud made of dust and gas. But the process seems to be different for massive stars.

My PhD thesis deals with the birth of massive stars, which requires the convergence of large flows of material and very dynamic processes. The clouds where the stars form contain small dust grains. On their surface, complex molecules are created and released when the star begins to heat its environment.

The light coming from the objects I observe travels 3000 years to reach us. I use different telescopes such as the Plateau de Bure Interferometer, composed of several antennas, and the 30 meter diameter telescope in Spain. I then analyze the data to understand what is happening, with the help of numerical simulations. I use pictures in the infrared range, which show the light emitted by the dust grains and the molecules. This light gives us information about the mass contained in the object and about its chemical composition. These pictures represent one brief moment of something that is constantly evolving, so we have to imagine what the evolution of the object would be over time.
I also really like to talk about science to a broader audience. I give lectures at the Université du Temps Libre (spare time university) and I write articles for the news website Rue 89.”

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