Michael Poon

Hi there! I defended my PhD in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto in the summer of 2026, advised by Profs. Marta Bryan and Hanno Rein. In September 2026, I will join MIT as a postdoctoral associate.

My research centers on exoplanetary obliquity – the tilt between a planet's rotational and orbital axes – which is a newly observable signature of planetary formation and dynamics. I approach this emerging field from three complementary angles: 

• Observational (combining high-resolution spectroscopy, direct imaging and space-based photometry to obtain new obliquity measurements)

• Theoretical (exploring the origins of planetary tilts through collisions, spin-orbit resonances, moons, gravitational instability, etc)

• Statistical (developing hierarchical Bayesian models to infer population-level constraints in obliquity). 

Here is a graduate student spotlight by the Canadian Astronomical Society! 

I also presented at the 2026 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Finals!  My presentation, titled 'Seasons Across the Universe', summarizes my thesis research for a general audience: