A nearby star is pummeling a companion planet with a barrage of X-rays a hundred thousand times more than the Earth receives from the Sun. Credit: NASA/CXC/NSF/IPAC/2MASS (see the 
MIT Kavli Institute Directory
Heather R. Jacobson
Postdoctoral Fellow Postdoctoral ScholarI did my undergraduate studies at the University of Rochester and the University of Texas at Austin, where I received a B.A. in Astronomy. I received my Masters and PhD in Astronomy from Indiana University and most recently was an NSF Fellow at Michigan State University.
My broad research interests lie in how our galaxy (and others like it) formed and evolved. Specifically, I use spectroscopy and detailed chemical abundance analyses of stars to trace the chemical evolution of different components of the Milky Way. Open clusters span a wide range of ages and are found throughout the galactic thin disk, and my research explores trends of open cluster element abundances as tracers of the chemical evolution of the thin disk. As part of this work, I am a member of the European-led Gaia-ESO Survey which will produce high resolution spectroscopic followup for Gaia targets, including dozens of open clusters. Here at MIT, I work with Dr. Anna Frebel on the chemical abundance analysis of metal-poor stars to trace the formation of the Milky Way halo as well as the signatures of the first stars that formed in the universe.
H. R. Jacobson & E. Friel 2013, AJ, 145, 107 "Zirconium, Barium, Lanthanum, and Europium Abundances in Open Clusters"
Jacobson, Friel & Pilachowski 2011, AJ, 142, 59 "A Chemical Abundance Study of 10 Open Clusters Based on WIYN-Hydra Spectroscopy"
Friel, Jacobson & Pilachowski 2010, AJ, 139, 1942 "Abundances of Red Giants in Old Open Clusters. V. Be 31, Be 32, Be 39, M 67, NGC 188, and NGC 1193"
National Science Foundation Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow 2009-2012
Contact Information
t: 617-324-1239
e: hrj@mit.edu
