Planetary environments for habitable Kepler small planet candidates

Introduction

Exoplanets are often difficult to detect or observe due to their distance from Earth and their host star’s astrophysical interference. To find habitable exoplanet candidates, astronomers look for those that orbit in the habitable zone of their system, which is largely dependent on the characteristics of the host star. Therefore, the examination of stellar conditions is crucial for the detection and confirmation of habitable planets. As mankind develops toward a spacefaring race, many can not help but wonder about the existence of life outside the solar system.

Amanda Hao, Aragon High School, San Mateo, CA

Amanda Hao is currently a junior at Aragon High School in San Mateo, CA. She is passionate about STEM and has entered in the Golden Gate STEM Fair in previous years, winning second place in the physical sciences category, the GGSTEM Ted Beck Memorial Award, and GGSTEM Office of Naval Research Special Award. Her love for STEM translates to her role as executive director of Digitize, an organization dedicated to teaching students technology to combat social issues like environmental conservation. She organizes workshops and teaches students who lack resources skills such as computer-aided design and programming. Amanda has oversaw logistics and hosted programs that have seen over 500 students from 33 states in the US, 21 countries, and 22 colleges. Amanda also is an avid competitor in speech and debate, currently ranked ninth in the nation for varsity parliamentary debate, received third speaker in the National Parliamentary Debate League Tournament of Champions, and has consistently placed within the top eight in multiple national tournaments. In her free time, she enjoys biking, watching TV, and hanging out with friends.

Justin Hou, Henry Gunn High SChool, Palo Alto, CA

Justin Hou is a high school sophomore at Henry Gunn High School, Palo Alto, CA. Aside from his passion for astronomy and physics, he also has over three years of experience in coding in various languages (Python, Java, JavaScript, Scheme). He has used these skills and passions to develop various competition and hackathon-winning projects. His most successful project was his classroom productivity app, Lucidity. Justin founded and led his team in numerous entrepreneurship competitions, winning a Conrad Challenge Finalist and Diamond Challenge Semi-Finalist along the way. He also won first place in the California Science and Engineering Fair in Plant Biology in 2017. Aside from these pursuits and passions, Justin also loves podcasting on various social issues affecting his generation, playing water polo, playing the guitar, and applying his coding skills to music composition.

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