I am an astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. where I conduct observations for the Double Star Program and manage kinematic solutions of the Washington Double Star (WDS) database.
I use a high-resolution imaging technique called speckle interferometry to detect and characterize double stars, as well as determine whether stars with transiting exoplanets found by NASA's Kepler/K2 and TESS Missions are single or double stars (binaries).
If a star with an exoplanet has a stellar companion it changes what we know about the size and density of the planet as well as the overall frequency of planets of different sizes.
I also derive occurrence rates and general properties of binary stars. Understanding binaries is important for both star and planet formation as 40-50% of all nearby Sun-like stars are in binary systems and exoplanet host stars are found in binary systems at similar rates.