I develop, build and use new technology to address questions in astronomy that are difficult or infeasible with traditional methods (e.g., the Robo-AO/Kepler survey). Currently I am building two adaptive optics systems, Robo-AO-2 for the UH 2.2-m telescope on Maunakea, HI, and USNO-AO for the 1.8-m U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) telescope in Flagstaff, AZ. I work on a wide range of scientific topics spanning asteroid statistics, planetary weather, exoplanets, transients and lensed quasars.

Awards

Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow, 2014-2016.

Board of Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Research, 2017.

         

Selected Recent Publications

Automated Adaptive Optics , (arXiv) C. Baranec, R. Riddle & N. Law The WSPC Handbook of Astronomical Instrumentation, eds. D. Burrows and A. Moore, 279-294, 2021.

An Adaptive Optics Census of Companions to Northern Stars Within 25 pc with Robo-AO M. Salama, C. Ziegler, C. Baranec, et al., The Astronomical Journal, 163, 200, 2022.

Searching for Binary Asteroids in Pan-STARRS1 Archival Images J. Ou, C. Baranec, & S. Bus, The Planetary Science Journal, 3, 169, 2022.

ADS query – ORCiD profile

Optical Science and Technology

Automated Adaptive Optics  C. Baranec, R. Riddle, & N. Law The WSPC Handbook of Astronomical Instrumentation, eds. D. Burrows and A. Moore, 279-294, 2021.

Improved Image Quality Over 10′ Fields with the `Imaka Ground Layer Adaptive Optics Experiment F. Abdurrahman, J. Lu, M. Chun, M. Service, O. Lai, D. Föhring, D. Toomey, & C. Baranec The Astronomical Journal, 156, 100, 2018.

Laser-only adaptive optics achieves significant image quality gains compared to seeing-limited observations over the entire sky W. Howard, N. Law, C. Ziegler, C. Baranec, & R. Riddle The Astronomical Journal, 155, 59, 2018.

The performance of the Robo-AO laser guide star adaptive optics system at the Kitt Peak 2.1m Telescope R. Jensen-Clem, D. Duev, R. Riddle, M. Salama, C. Baranec, N. Law, & S. Kulkarni The Astronomical Journal, 155, 32, 2018.

High-speed imaging and wavefront sensing with an infrared avalanche photodiode array C. Baranec, D. Atkinson, R. Riddle, D. Hall, S. Jacobson, N. Law, & M. Chun The Astrophysical Journal, 809, 70, 2015.

High-efficiency autonomous laser adaptive optics C. Baranec, R. Riddle, N. Law, A. N. Ramaprakash, S. Tendulkar, K. Hogstrom, K. Bui, M. Burse, P. Chordia, H. Das, R. Dekany, S. Kulkarni, & S. Punnadi The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 790, L8, 2014.

PALM-3000: Exoplanet adaptive optics for the 5-meter Hale Telescope R. Dekany, J. Roberts, R. Burruss, A. Bouchez, T. Truong, C. Baranec, S. Guiwits, D. Hale, J. Angione, T. Trinh, J. Zolkower, J. C. Shelton, D. Palmer, J. Henning, E. Croner, M. Troy, D. McKenna, J. Tesch, S. Hildebrandt, & J. Milburn The Astrophysical Journal, 776, 130, 2013.

Bringing the Visible Universe into Focus with Robo-AO C. Baranec, R. Riddle, N. Law, A. N. Ramaprakash, S. Tendulkar, K. Bui, M. Burse, P. Chordia, H. Das, J. Davis, R. Dekany, M. Kasliwal, S. Kulkarni, T. Morton, E. Ofek, & S. Punnadi The Journal of Visualized Experiments, 72, e50021, 2013.

A ground-layer adaptive optics system with multiple laser guide stars M. Hart, N. M. Milton, C. Baranec, K. Powell, T. Stalcup, D. McCarthy, C. Kulesa, & E. Bendek Nature, 466, 727-729, 2010.

Design considerations for low-light level low-Fresnel number optical systems C. Baranec Applied Optics, 48, 6259-6263, 2009.

On-sky wide field adaptive optics correction using multiple laser guide stars at the MMT C. Baranec, M. Hart, N. M. Milton, T. Stalcup, K. Powell, M. Snyder, V. Vaitheeswaran, D. McCarthy, & C. Kulesa The Astrophysical Journal, 693, 1814-1820, 2009.

Study of a MEMS-based Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor with adjustable pupil sampling for astronomical adaptive optics C. Baranec & R. Dekany Applied Optics, 47, 5155-5162, 2008.

Ground-layer wavefront reconstruction from multiple natural guide stars C. Baranec, M. Lloyd-Hart, & N. M. Milton The Astrophysical Journal, 661, 1332-1338, 2007.

Experimental results of ground-layer and tomographic wavefront reconstruction from multiple laser guide stars M. Lloyd-Hart, C. Baranec, N. M. Milton, T. Stalcup, M. Snyder, & J. R. P. Angel Optics Express, 14, 7541-7551, 2006.

First tests of wavefront sensing with a constellation of laser guide beacons M. Lloyd-Hart, C. Baranec, N. M. Milton, T. Stalcup, M. Snyder, N. Putnam, & J. R. P. Angel The Astrophysical Journal, 634, 679-686, 2005.

Concept for a laser guide beacon Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor with dynamically steered subapertures C. Baranec, B. Bauman, & M. Lloyd-Hart Optics Letters, 30, 693-695, 2005.

Robo-AO Science

Large Adaptive Optics Survey for Substellar Objects (LASSO) Around Young, Nearby, Low-mass Stars with Robo-AO M. Salama, J. Ou, C. Baranec, M. Liu, B. Bowler, P. Barnes, M. Bonnet, M. Chun, D. Duev, S. Goebel, D. Hall, S. Jacobson, R. Jensen-Clem, N. Law, C. Lockhart, R. Riddle, H. Situ, and E. Warmbier The Astronomical Journal, 162, 102, 2021.

Robo-AO and SOAR High-resolution Surveys of Exoplanet Hosting Stars C. Ziegler, N. Law, C. Baranec, R. Riddle, and A. Tokovinin Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 8:625230, 2021.

When Do Stalled Stars Resume Spinning Down? Advancing Gyrochronology with Ruprecht 147 J. Curtis, M. Agüeros, S. Matt, K. Covey, S. Douglas, R. Angus, S. Saar, A. Cody, A. Vanderburg, N. Law, A. Kraus, D. Latham, C. Baranec, R. Riddle, C. Ziegler, M. Lund, G. Torres, S. Meibom, V. Aguirre, J. Wright The Astrophysical Journal, 904, 140, 2020.

Robo-AO M dwarf multiplicity survey: Catalog C. Lamman, C. Baranec, Z. Berta-Thompson, N. Law, J. Schonhut-Stasik, C. Ziegler, M. Salama, R. Jensen-Clem, D. Duev, R. Riddle, S. Kulkarni, J. Winters, and J. Irwin The Astronomical Journal, 159, 139, 2020.

Robo-AO Kepler Asteroseismic Survey. II. Do stellar companions inhibit stellar oscillations? J. Schonhut-Stasik, D. Huber, C. Baranec, C. Lamman, M. Salama, R. Jensen-Clem, D. Duev, R. Riddle, S. Kulkarni, and N. Law The Astrophysical Journal, 888, 34, 2020.

A Hot Saturn Near (but unassociated with) the Open Cluster NGC 1817 R. Rampalli, A. Vanderburg, A. Bieryla, D. Latham, S. Quinn, C. Baranec, P. Berlind, M. Calkins, W. Cochran, D. Duev, M. Endl1, G. Esquerdo, R. Jensen-Clem, N. Law, A. Mayo, R. Riddle, and M. Salama The Astronomical Journal, 158, 62, 2019.

The Elusive Majority of Young Moving Groups. I. Young Binaries and Lithium-Rich Stars in the Solar Neighborhood B. P. Bowler, S. Hinkley, C. Ziegler, C. Baranec, J. Gizis, N. Law, M. Liu, E. Shkolnik, B. Riaz, and R. Riddle The Astrophysical Journal, 877, 60, 2019.

Investigating the origin of the spectral line profiles of the Hot Wolf-Rayet Star WR2 A.-N. Chené, A. Moffat, N. St.-Louis, O. Schnurr, P. Crowther, É. Artigau, G. Wade, N. Richardson, C. Baranec, C. Ziegler, N. Law, R. Riddle, É. Alecian, and the BinaMIcS collaboration MNRAS, 484, 5834, 2019.

Follow-up Imaging of Disk Candidates from the Disk Detective Citizen Science Project: New Discoveries and False-Positives in WISE Circumstellar Disk Surveys S. Silverberg, M. Kuchner, J. Wisniewski, A. Bans, J. Debes, S. Kenyon, C. Baranec, R. Riddle, N. Law, J. Teske, E. Burns-Kaurin, M. Bosch, T. Cernohous, K. Doll, H. Durantini-Luca, M. Hyogo, J. Hamilton, J. Finnemann, & L. Wah The Astrophysical Journal, 868, 43, 2018.

Measuring the recoverability of close binaries in GAIA DR2 with the Robo-AO Kepler Survey C. Ziegler, N. Law, C. Baranec, T. Morton, R. Riddle, D. Huber, & J. Pepper The Astronomical Journal, 156, 259, 2018.

Robo-AO Kepler Survey V: The effect of physically associated stellar companions planetary systems C. Ziegler, N. Law, C. Baranec, W. Howard, T. Morton, R. Riddle, D. Duev, M. Salama, R. Jensen-Clem, & S. Kulkarni The Astronomical Journal, 156, 83, 2018.

Robo-AO Kepler Survey IV: The effect of nearby stars on 3857 planetary candidate systems C. Ziegler, N. Law, C. Baranec, R. Riddle, D. Duev, W. Howard, R. Jensen-Clem, S. Kulkarni, T. Morton, & M. Salama The Astronomical Journal, 155, 161, 2018.

Robo-AO Discovery and Basic Characterization of Wide Multiple Star Systems in the Pleiades, Praesepe, and NGC 2264 Clusters L. A. Hillenbrand, C. Zhang, R. Riddle, C. Baranec, C. Ziegler, N. Law, & J. Stauffer The Astronomical Journal, 155, 51, 2018.

K2-104b – An eccentric 6.57 day transiting hot Jupiter in Virgo H. A. C. Giles, D. Bayliss, N. Espinoza, R. Brahm, S. Blanco-Cuaresma, A. Shporer, D. Armstrong, C. Lovis, S. Udry, F. Bouchy, M. Marmier, A. Jordán, J. Bento, A. Collier Cameron, R. Sefako, W. D. Cochran, F. Rojas, M. Rabus, J.S. Jenkins, M. Jones, B. Pantoja, M. Soto, R. Jensen-Clem, D. A. Duev, M. Salama, R. Riddle, C. Baranec, & N. M. Law MNRAS, 475, 1809, 2018.

Magnetic Inflation and Stellar Mass I: Revised Parameters for the Component Stars of the Kepler Low-mass Eclipsing Binary T-Cyg1-12664 E. Han, P. Muirhead, J. Swift, C. Baranec, N. Law, R. Riddle, D. Atkinson, & G. Mace The Astronomical Journal, 154, 100, 2017.

Robo-AO Kepler Asteroseismic Survey. I. Adaptive optics imaging of 99 asteroseismic Kepler dwarfs and subgiants J. Schonhut-Stasik, C. Baranec, D. Huber, C. Ziegler, D. Atkinson, E. Gaidos, N. Law, R. Riddle, J. Hagelberg, N. van der Marel, & K. Hodapp The Astronomical Journal, 847, 97, 2017.

Neptune long-lived atmospheric features in 2013-2015 from small (28 cm) to large (10 m) telescopes R. Hueso, I. de Pater, A. Simon, A. Sánchez-Lavega, M. Delcroix, M. Wong, J. Tollefson, C. Baranec, K. de Kleer, S. Luszcz-Cook, G. Orton, H. Hammel, J. Gómez-Forrellad, I. Ordoñez-Etxeberria, L. Sromovsky, P. Fry, F. Colas, J. Rojas, S. Pérez-Hoyos, P. Gorczynski, J. Guarro, W. Kivits, P. Miles, D. Millika, P. Nicholas, J. Sussenbach, A. Wesley, K. Sayanagi, S. Ammons, E. Gates, D. Gavel, E. Garcia, N. M. Law, I. Mendikoa, & R. Riddle Icarus, 295, 89, 2017.

Ultra Short Period Planets in K2 with companions: a double transiting system for EPIC 220674823 E. R. Adams, B. Jackson, M. Endl, W. Cochran, P. MacQueen, D. Duev, R. Jensen-Clem, M. Salama, C. Ziegler, C. Baranec, S. Kulkarni, N. Law & R. Riddle The Astronomical Journal, 153, 82, 2017.

Robo-AO Kepler Planetary Candidate Survey III: Adaptive Optics Imaging of 1629 Kepler Exoplanet Candidate Host Stars C. Ziegler, N. Law, T. Morton, C. Baranec, R. Riddle, D. Atkinson, A. Baker, S. Roberts, & D. Ciardi The Astronomical Journal, 153, 66, 2017.

Probability of physical association of 104 blended companions to Kepler objects of interest using visible and near-infrared adaptive optics photometry D. Atkinson, C. Baranec, C. Ziegler, N. Law, R. Riddle, & T. Morton The Astronomical Journal, 153, 25, 2017.

Two small planets transiting HD 3167 A. Vanderburg, A. Bieryla, D. Duev, R. Jensen-Clem, D. Latham, A. Mayo, C. Baranec, P. Berlind, S. Kulkarni, N. Law, M. Nieberding, R. Riddle, & M. Salama The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 829, L9, 2016.

197 Candidates and 104 Validated Planets in K2’s First Five Fields I. Crossfield, D. Ciardi, E. Petigura, E. Sinukoff, J. Schlieder, A. Howard, C. Beichman, H. Isaacson, C. Dressing, J. Christiansen, B. J. Fulton, S. Lépine, L. Weiss, L. Hirsch, J. Livingston, C. Baranec, N. Law, R. Riddle, C. Ziegler, S. Howell, E. Horch, M. Everett, J. Teske, A. Martinez, C. Obermeier, B. Benneke, N. Scott, K. Aller, B. Hansen, L. Mancini, S. Ciceri, R. Brahm, A. Jordán, H. Knutson, T. Henning, M. Bonnefoy, M. Liu, J. Crepp, J. Lothringer, P. Hinz, V. Bailey, A. Skemer, & D. Defrere The Astrophysical Journal Supplement, 226, 7, 2016.

Five Planets Transiting a Ninth Magnitude Star A. Vanderburg, J. Becker, M. Kristiansen, A. Bieryla, D. Duev, R. Jensen-Clem, T. Morton, D. Latham, F. Adams, C. Baranec, P. Berlind, M. Calkins, G. Esquerdo, S. Kulkarni, N. Law, R. Riddle, M. Salama, & A. Schmitt The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 827, L10, 2016.

Robo-AO Kepler Planetary Candidate Survey II: Adaptive Optics Imaging of 969 Kepler Exoplanet Candidate Host Stars C. Baranec, C. Ziegler, N. Law, T. Morton, R. Riddle, D. Atkinson, J. Schonhut & J. Crepp The Astronomical Journal, 152, 18, 2016.

Eleven multi-planet systems from K2 campaigns 1 & 2 and the masses of two hot super-Earths E. Sinukoff, A. Howard, E. Petigura, J. Schlieder, I. Crossfield, D. Ciardi, B. J. Fulton, H. Isaacson, K. Aller, C. Baranec, C. Beichman, B. Hansen, H. Knutson, N. Law, M. Liu & R. Riddle The Astrophysical Journal, 827, 78, 2016.

Two small temperate planets transiting nearby M dwarfs in K2 campaigns 0 and 1 J. Schlieder, I. Crossfield, E. Petigura, A. Howard, K. Aller, E. Sinukoff, H. Isaacson, B. J. Fulton, D. Ciardi, M. Bonnefoy, C. Ziegler, T. Morton, S. Lépine, C. Obermeier, M. Liu, V. Bailey, C. Baranec, C. Beichman, D. Defrèere, T. Henning, P. Hinz, N. Law, R. Riddle & A. Skemer The Astrophysical Journal, 818, 87, 2016.

Planet Hunters. VIII. Characterization of 41 Long-Period Exoplanet Candidates from the Kepler Archival Data J. Wang, D. Fischer, T. Barclay, A. Picard, B. Ma, B. Bowler, J. Schmitt, T. Boyajian, K. Jek, D. LaCourse, C. Baranec, R. Riddle, N. Law, C. Lintott, K. Schawinski, D. Simister, B. Grégoire, S. Babin, T. Poile, T. Jacobs, T. Jebson, M. Omohundro, H. Schwengeler, J. Sejpka, I. Terentev, R. Gagliano, J.-P. Paakkonen, H. Berge, T. Winarski, G. Green & A. Schmitt The Astrophysical Journal, 815, 127, 2015.

HII 2407: An Eclipsing Binary Revealed by K2 Observations of the Pleiades T. David, J. Stauffer, L. Hillenbrand, A. Cody, K. Conroy, K. Stassun, B. Pope, S. Aigrain, E. Gillen, A. Cameron, D. Barrado y Navascues, L. Rebull, H. Isaacson, G. Marcy, C. Zhang, R. Riddle, C. Ziegler, N. Law & C. Baranec The Astrophysical Journal, 814, 62, 2015.

KELT-8b: A highly inflated transiting hot Jupiter and a new technique for extracting high-precision radial velocities from noisy spectra B. J. Fulton, K. Collins, B. Gaudi, K. Stassun, J. Pepper, T. Beatty, R. Siverd, K. Penev, A. Howard, C. Baranec, G. Corfini, J. Eastman, J. Gregorio, N. Law, M. Lund, T. Oberst, M. Penny, R. Riddle, J. Rodriguez, D. Stevens, R. Zambelli, C. Ziegler, A. Bieryla, G. D`Ago, D. DePoy, E. Jensen, J. Kielkopf, D. Latham, M. Manner, J. Marshall, K. McLeod & P. Reed The Astrophysical Journal, 810, 30, 2015.

Planets Around Low-Mass Stars (PALMS). V. Age-Dating Low-Mass Companions to Kinematic Members and Interlopers of Young Moving Groups B. P. Bowler, E. Shkolnik, M. Liu, J. Schlieder, A. Mann, T. Dupuy, S. Hinkley, J. Crepp, J. Johnson, A. Howard, L. Flagg, A. Weinberger, K. Aller, K. Allers, W. Best, N. Deacon, M. Kotson, B. Montet, G. Herczeg, C. Baranec, R. Riddle, N. Law, E. Nielsen, Z. Wahhaj, B. Biller & T. Hayward The Astrophysical Journal, 806, 62, 2015.

Characterizing K2 planet discoveries: A super-Earth transiting the bright K-dwarf HIP 116454 A. Vanderburg, B. Montet, J. Johnson, L. Buchhave, L. Zeng, F. Pepe, A. Cameron, D. Latham, E. Molinari, S. Udry, C. Lovis, J. Matthews, C. Cameron, N. Law, B. Bowler, R. Angus, C. Baranec, A. Bieryla, W. Boschin, D. Charbonneau, R. Cosentino, X. Dumusque, P. Figueira, D. Guenther, A. Harutyunyan, C. Hellier, R. Kuschnig, M. Lopez-Morales, M. Mayor, G. Micela, A. Moffat, M. Pedani, D. Phillips, G. Piotto, D. Pollacco, D. Queloz, K. Rice, R. Riddle, J. Rowe, S. Rucinski, D. Sasselov, D, Ségransan, A. Sozzetti, A. Szentgyorgyi, C. Watson & W. Weiss The Astrophysical Journal, 800, 59, 2015.

Know the star, know the planet. IV. A stellar companion to the host star of the eccentric exoplanet HD8673b L. C. Roberts, B. Mason, C. Neyman, Y. Wu, R. Riddle, C. Shelton, J. Angione, C. Baranec, A. Bouchez, K. Bui, R. Burruss, M. Burse, P. Chordia, E. Croner, H. Das, R. Dekany, S. Guiwits, D. Hale, J. Henning, S. Kulkarni, N. Law, D. McKenna, J. Milburn, D. Palmer, S. Punnadi, A. Ramaprakash, J. Roberts, S. Tendulkar, T. Trinh, M. Troy, T. Truong & J. Zolkower The Astronomical Journal, 149, 144, 2015.

Know the star, know the planet. III. Discovery of late-type companions to two exoplanet host stars L. C. Roberts, A. Tokovinin, B. Mason, R. Riddle, W. Hartkopf, N. Law & C. Baranec The Astronomical Journal, 149, 118, 2015.

Characterizing the Cool KOIs. VII. Refined physical properties of the eclipsing brown dwarf LHS6343C B. Montet, J. Johnson, P. Muirhead, A. Villar, C. Vassallo, C. Baranec, N. Law, R. Riddle, G. Marcy, A. Howard & H. Isaacson The Astrophysical Journal, 800, 134, 2015.

Multiplicity of the Galactic Senior Citizens: A high-resolution search for cool subdwarf companions C. Ziegler, N. M. Law, C. Baranec, R. Riddle & J. Fuchs The Astrophysical Journal, 804, 30, 2015.

An ancient extrasolar system with five sub-Earth-size planets T. Campante, T. Barclay, J. Swift, D. Huber, V. Adibekyan, W. Cochran, C. J. Burke, H. Isaacson, E. Quintana, G. Davies, V. Aguirre, D. Ragozzine, R. Riddle, C. Baranec, S. Basu, W. Chaplin, J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, T. Metcalfe, T. Bedding, R. Handberg, D. Stello, J. Brewer, S. Hekker, C. Karoff, R. Kolbl, N. Law, M. Lundkvist, A. Miglio, J. Rowe, N. Santos, C. Van Laerhoven, T. Arentoft, Y. Elsworth, D. Fischer, S. Kawaler, H. Kjeldsen, M. Lund, G. Marcy, S. Sousa, A. Sozzetti & T. R. White The Astrophysical Journal, 799, 170, 2015.

The Near-Ultraviolet Luminosity Function of Young, Early M-Dwarf Stars M. Ansdell, E. Gaidos, A. Mann, S. Lépine, D. James, A. Buccino, C. Baranec, N. Law, R. Riddle, P. Mauas & R. Petrucci The Astrophysical Journal, 798, 41, 2015.

Characterization of the atmosphere of the hot Jupiter HAT-P-32Ab and the M-dwarf companion HAT-P-32B M. Zhao, J. O’Rourke, J. Wright, H. Knutson, A. Burrows, J. Fortney, H. Ngo, B. J. Fulton, C. Baranec, R. Riddle, N. Law, P. Muirhead, S. Hinkley, A. Showman, J. Curtis & R. Burruss The Astrophysical Journal, 796, 115, 2014.

A survey of the high order multiplicity of nearby Solar-type binary stars with Robo-AO R. Riddle, A. Tokovinin, B. Mason, W. Hartkopf, L. Roberts, C. Baranec, N. Law, K. Bui, M. Burse, H. Das, R. Dekany, S. Kulkarni, S. Punnadi, A. N. Ramaprakash & S. Tendulkar The Astrophysical Journal, 799, 4, 2015.

Characterizing the Cool KOIs. VI. H- and K-band Spectra of Kepler M Dwarf Planet-Candidate Hosts P. Muirhead, J. Becker, G. Feiden, B. Rojas-Ayala, A. Vanderburg, E. Price, R. Thorp, N. Law, R. Riddle, C. Baranec, K. Hamren, E. Schlawin, K. Covey, J. Johnson & J. Lloyd The Astrophysical Journal Supplement, 213, 5, 2014.

Robotic laser-adaptive-optics imaging of 715 Kepler exoplanet candidates using Robo-AO N. Law, T. Morton, C. Baranec, R. Riddle, G. Ravichandran, C. Ziegler, J. Johnson, S. Tendulkar, K. Bui, M. Burse, H. Das, R. Dekany, S. Kulkarni, S. Punnadi & A. N. Ramaprakash The Astrophysical Journal, 791, 35, 2014.

Characterizing the Cool KOIs. V. KOI-256: A Mutually Eclipsing Post-common Envelope Binary P. Muirhead, A. Vanderburg, A. Shporer, J. Becker, J. Swift, J. Lloyd, J. Fuller, M. Zhao, S. Hinkley, J. S. Pineda, M. Bottom, A. Howard, K. von Braun, T. Boyajian, N. Law, C. Baranec, R. Riddle, A. N. Ramaprakash, S. Tendulkar, K. Bui, M. Burse, P. Chordia, H. Das, R. Dekany, S, Punnadi & J. A. Johnson The Astrophysical Journal, 767, 111, 2013.

Millions of Multiples: Detecting and Characterizing Close-Separation Binary Systems in Synoptic Sky Surveys E. Terziev, N. Law, I. Arcavi, C. Baranec, J. Bloom, K. Bui, M. Burse, P. Chorida, H. Das, R. Dekany, A. Kraus, S. Kulkarni, P. Nugent, E. Ofek, S. Punnadi, A. N. Ramaprakash, R. Riddle & S. Tendulkar The Astrophysical Journal Supplement, 206, 18, 2013.

Three New Eclipsing White-dwarf – M-dwarf Binaries Discovered in a Search for Transiting Planets Around M-dwarfs N. M. Law, A. L. Kraus, R. Street, B. J. Fulton, L. A. Hillenbrand, A. Shporer, T. Lister, C. Baranec, J. S. Bloom, K. Bui, M. P. Burse, S. Bradley Cenko, H. K. Das, J. T. C. Davis, R. G. Dekany, A. V. Filippenko, M. M. Kasliwal, S. R. Kulkarni, P. Nugent, E. O. Ofek, D. Poznanski, R. M. Quimby, A. N. Ramaprakash, R. Riddle, J. M. Silverman, S. Sivanandam & S. Tendulkar The Astrophysical Journal, 757, 133, 2012.

PALM-3000 Science

Know the Star, Know the Planet. V. Characterization of the Stellar Companion to the Exoplanet Host HD 177830 L. Roberts, R. Oppenheimer, J. Crepp, C. Baranec, C. Beichman, D. Brenner, R. Burruss, E. Cady, S. Luszcz-Cook, R. Dekany, L. Hillenbrand, S. Hinkley, D. King, T. Lockhart, R. Nilsson, I. Parry, L. Pueyo, A. Sivaramakrishnan, R. Soummer, E. Rice, A. Veicht, G. Vasisht, C. Zhai & N. Zimmerman The Astronomical Journal, 150, 103, 2015.

Reconnaissance of the HR 8799 Exosolar System II: Astrometry and Orbital Motion L. Pueyo, R. Soummer, J. Hoffmann, R. Oppenheimer, J. R. Graham, N. Zimmerman, C. Zhai, J. K. Wallace, F. Vescelus, A. Veicht, G. Vasisht, T. Truong, A. Sivaramakrishnan, M. Shao, L. C. Roberts Jr., J. E. Roberts, E. Rice, I. R. Parry, R. Nilsson, S. Luszcz-Cook, T. Lockhart, E. R. Ligon, D. King, S. Hinkley, L. Hillenbrand, D. Hale, R. Dekany, J. R. Crepp, E. Cady, R. Burruss, D. Brenner, C. Beichman & C. Baranec The Astrophysical Journal, 803, 31, 2015.

The Kappa Andromedae System: New Constraints on the Companion Mass, System Age & Further Multiplicity S. Hinkley, L. Pueyo, J. Faherty, B. Oppenheimer, E. Mamajek, A. Kraus, E. Rice, M. Ireland, T. David, L. Hillenbrand, G. Vasisht, E. Cady, D. Brenner, A. Veicht, R. Nilsson, N. Zimmerman, I. Parry, C. Beichman, R. Dekany, J. Roberts, L. Roberts, C. Baranec, J. Crepp, R. Burruss, K. Wallace, D. King, C. Zhai, T. Lockhart, M. Shao, R. Soummer, A. Sivaramakrishnan & L. Wilson The Astrophysical Journal, 779, 153, 2013.

Reconnaissance of the HR8799 Exosolar System I: Near IR Spectroscopy B. Oppenheimer, C. Baranec, C. Beichman, D. Brenner, R. Burruss, E. Cady, J. Crepp, R. Dekany, R. Fergus, D. Hale, L. Hillenbrand, S. Hinkley, D. Hogg, D. King, E. Ligon, T. Lockhart, R. Nilsson, I. Parry, L. Pueyo, E. Rice, J. Roberts, L. Roberts, M. Shao, A. Sivaramakrishnan, R. Soummer, G. Vasisht, F. Vescelus, K. Wallace, C. Zhai & N. Zimmerman The Astrophysical Journal, 768, 24, 2013.

Keck AO Science

Keck/NIRC2 L’-Band Imaging of Jovian-Mass Accreting Protoplanets around PDS 70 J. Wang, S. Ginzburg, B. Ren, N. Wallack, P. Gao, D. Mawet, C. Bond, S. Cetre, P. Wizinowich, R. De Rosa, G. Ruane, M. Liu, C. Alvarez, C. Baranec, E. Choquet, M. Chun, J.-R. Delorme, G. Duchene, A. Ghez, O. Guyon, D. Hall, R. Jensen-Clem, N. Jovanovic, S. Lilley, F. Menard, T. Meshkat, M. Millar-Blanchaer, H. Ngo, C. Pinte, S. Ragland, J. Wang, E. Wetherell, J. Williams, M. Ygouf, & B. Zuckerman The Astronomical Journal, in press, 2020.

Qatar Exoplanet Survey: Qatar-6b — a grazing transiting hot Jupiter K. Alsubai, Z. Tsvetanov, D. Latham, A. Bieryla, G. Esquerdo, D. Mislis, S. Pyrzas, E. Foxell, J. McCormac, C. Baranec, N. Vilchez, R. West, A. Esamdin, Z. Dang, H. Dalee, A. Al-Rajihi, & A.-K. Al-Harbi The Astronomical Journal, 155, 52, 2018.

Flare activity of wide binary stars with Kepler R. W. Clarke, J. R. A. Davenport, K. R. Covey, & C. Baranec The Astrophysical Journal, 853, 59, 2017.

KIC 4150611: a rare multi-eclipsing quintuple with a hybrid pulsator K. G. Hełminiak, N. Ikita, E. Kambe, S. K. Kozłowski, R. Pawłaszek, H. Maehara, C. Baranec, & M. Konacki Astronomy and Astrophysics, 602, A30, 2017.

Record-breaking storm activity on Uranus in 2014 I. de Pater, L. A. Sromovsky, P. M. Fry, H. B. Hammel, C. Baranec, & K. Sayangi Icarus, 252, 121, 2015.

HST Science

A New Dark Vortex on Neptune M. Wong, J. Tollefson, A. Hsu, I. de Pater, A. Simon, R. Hueso, A. Sanchez-Lavega, L. Sromovsky, P. Fry, S. Luszcz-Cook, H. Hammel, M. Delcroix, K. de Kleer, G. Orton, & C. Baranec The Astronomical Journal, 155, 117, 2017.

Conference Proceedings

The Robo-AO-2 facility for rapid visible/near-infrared AO imaging and the demonstration of hybrid techniques C. Baranec, M. Chun, D. Hall, M. Connelley, K. Hodapp, D. Huber, M. Liu, E. Magnier, K. Meech, M. Takamiya, R. Griffiths, R. Riddle, R. Dekany, M. Kasliwal, R. Lau, N. Law, O. Guyon, I. de Pater, M. Wong, E. Ofek, H. Hammel, M. Kuchner, A. Simon, A. Moore, M. Kissler-Patig, & M. van Dam Proc. SPIE. 10703, Adaptive Optics Systems VI, 10703-27, 2018.

On-sky results from the wide-field ground-layer adaptive optics demonstrator ‘imaka M. Chun, J. Lu, O. Lai, F. Abdurrahman, M. Service, D. Toomey, D. Fohring, C. Baranec, Y. Hayano, & S. Oya Proc. SPIE. 10703, Adaptive Optics Systems VI, 10703-0J, 2018.

Geometric distortion calibration using a pinhole mask M. Service, M. Chun, J. Lu, F. Abdurrahman, O. Lai, D. Fohring, & C. Baranec Proc. SPIE. 10703, Adaptive Optics Systems VI, 10703-4S, 2018.

LASSO: Large Adaptive optics Survey for Substellar Objects using the new SAPHIRA detector on Robo-AO M. Salama, J. Ou, C. Baranec, M. Liu, B. Bowler, R. Riddle, D. Duev, D. Hall, D. Atkinson, S. Goebel, M. Chun, S. Jacobson, C. Lockhart, E. Warmbier, S. Kulkarni, & N. Law Proc. SPIE. 10703, Adaptive Optics Systems VI, 10703-07, 2018.

Results from ‘imaka: a ground-layer adaptive optics demonstrator M. Chun, J. Lu, M. Service, O. Lai, D. Toomey, F. Abdurrahman, C. Baranec, and D. Fohring Proc. AO4ELT5, 2017.

The Rapid Transient Surveyor C. Baranec, J. Lu, S. Wright, J. Tonry, R. B. Tully, I. Szapudi, M. Takamiya, L. Hunter, R. Riddle, S. Chen & M. Chun Proc. SPIE Adaptive Optics Systems V, 9909, 9909-0F 2016.

Robo-AO Kitt Peak: Status of the system and optimizing the sensitivity of a sub-electron readnoise IR camera to detect low-mass companions M. Salama, C. Baranec, R. Jensen-Clem, R. Riddle, D. Duev, S. Kulkarni & N. Law Proc. SPIE Adaptive Optics Systems V, 9909, 9909-1A 2016.

`imaka – ground-layer adaptive optics system on Maunakea M. Chun, O. Lai, D. Toomey, J. Lu, M. Service, C. Baranec, S. Thibault, D. Brousseau, Y. Hayano, S. Oya, S. Santi, C. Kingery, K. Loss, J. Gardiner & B. Steele Proc. SPIE Adaptive Optics Systems V, 9909, 9909-02 2016.

The Robo-AO KOI Survey: laser adaptive optics imaging of every Kepler exoplanet candidate C. Ziegler, N. Law, C. Baranec, T. Morton, R. Riddle, D. Atkinson & L. Nofi Proc. SPIE Adaptive Optics Systems V, 9909, 9909-5U, 2016.

Investigation of Cyclic O–C Changes in a Sample of Eclipsing Binaries D. Jableka, S. Zola, R. Riddle, C. Baranec & N. Law Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series, 496, 281, 2015.

KOI-3158: The oldest known system of terrestrial-size planets T. Campante, T. Barclay, J. Swift, D. Huber, V. Adibekyan, W. Cochran, C. J. Burke, H. Isaacson, E. Quintana, G. Davies, V. Aguirre, D. Ragozzine, R. Riddle, C. Baranec, S. Basu, W. Chaplin, J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, T. Metcalfe, T. Bedding, R. Handberg, D. Stello, J. Brewer, S. Hekker, C. Karoff, R. Kolbl, N. Law, M. Lundkvist, A. Miglio, J. Rowe, N. Santos, C. Van Laerhoven, T. Arentoft, Y. Elsworth, D. Fischer, S. Kawaler, H. Kjeldsen, M. Lund, G. Marcy, S. Sousa, A. Sozzetti & T. R. White Proceedings of the 3rd CoRoT Symposium, Kepler KASC7 joint meeting, 2015.

Robo-AO: Initial results from the first autonomous laser guide star adaptive optics instrument R. Riddle, C. Baranec, N. M. Law, A. N. Ramaprakash, S. Tendulkar, K. Hogstrom, K. Bui, M. Burse, P. Chordia, H. Das, R. Dekany, S. Kulkarni, S. Punnadi & R. Smith Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica (Serie de Conferencias), 45, 3, 2014.

PULSE: The Palomar Ultraviolet Laser for the Study of Exoplanets C. Baranec, R. Dekany, R. Burruss, B. Bowler, M. van Dam, R. Riddle, C. Shelton, T. Truong, J. Roberts, J. Milburn & J. Tesch Proc. SPIE Adaptive Optics Systems IV, eds. E. Marchetti, J.-P. Veran & L. Close, 9148, 2014.

Second generation Robo-AO instruments and systems C. Baranec, R. Riddle, N. M. Law, M. Chun, J. Lu, M. Connelley, D. Hall, D. Atkinson & S. Jacobson ibid.

Twelve-thousand laser-AO observations: first results from the Robo-AO large surveys N. M. Law, C. Baranec & R. Riddle ibid.

KAPAO First Light: the design, construction and operation of a low-cost natural guide star adaptive optics system S. Severson, P. Choi, K. Badham, D. Bolger, D Contreras, B. Gilbreth, C. Guerrero, E. Littleton, J. Long, L. McGonigle, W. Morrison, F. Ortega, A. Rudy, J. Wong, E. Spjut, C. Baranec & R. Riddle ibid.

‘imaka: a path-finder ground-layer adaptive optics system for the University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope on Maunakea M. Chun, O. Lai, D. Toomey, J. Lu, C. Baranec, S. Thibault, D. Brousseau, H. Zhang, Y. Hayano & S. Oya ibid.

Extremely high-resolution ground-layer optical turbulence profiles at Maunakea M. Chun, O. Lai, T. Butterly, S. Goebel, D. Toomey & C. Baranec ibid.

The Robo-AO automated intelligent queue system R. Riddle, K. Hogstrom, A. Papadopoulos, C. Baranec & N. M. Law Proc. SPIE Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy III, eds. G. Chiozzi & N. Radziwill, 9152, 2014.

Observatory Deployment and Characterization of SAPHIRA HgCdTe APD Arrays D. Atkinson, D. Hall, C. Baranec, I. Baker, S. Jacobson & R. Riddle Proc. SPIE High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy VI, eds. A. Holland & J. Beletic, 9154, 2014.

Robo-AO: Initial results from the first autonomous laser guide star adaptive optics instrument R. Riddle, C. Baranec, N. Law, A. N. Ramaprakash, S. Tendulkar, K. Hogstrom, K. Bui, M. Burse, P. Chordia, H. Das, R. Dekany, S. Kulkarni, S. Punnadi & R. Smith Contributions of the Astronomical Observatory Skalnaté Pleso, 43, 190-199, 2014.

Debris Disk Science with the Palomar ExAO System: First Results M. Wahl, S. Metchev, R. Patel, E. Serabyn, D. Mawet, R. Dekany, J. Roberts, R. Burruss, A Bouchez, T. Truong, C. Baranec, S. Guiwits, D. Hale, J. Angione, T. Trinh, J. Zolkower, C. Shelton, D. Palmer, J. Henning, E. Croner, M. Troy, D. McKenna & J. Tesch Proc. IAU, 8, 72-73, 2014.

PULSE: Palomar Ultraviolet Laser for the Study of Exoplanets C. Baranec, R. Dekany, M. van Dam & R. Burruss Proc. AMOS Technologies Conference, 2013.

Rise of the machines: first year operations of the Robo-AO visible-light laser-adaptive optics instrument C. Baranec, R. Riddle, N. Law, A. N. Ramaprakash, S. Tendulkar, K. Hogstrom, K. Bui, M. Burse, P. Chordia, H. Das, R. Dekany, S. Kulkarni, S. Punnadi & R. Smith ibid.

Robotic visible-light laser adaptive optics C. Baranec, R. Riddle, N. Law, A. N. Ramaprakash, S. Tendulkar, K. Bui, M. Burse, P. Chordia, H. Das, R. Dekany, S. Kulkarni & S. Punnadi AO4ELT3, 13321, 2013.

PULSE: Palomar Ultraviolet Laser for the Study of Exoplanets R. Dekany, C. Baranec, M. van Dam & R. Burruss AO4ELT3, 13275, 2013.

First exoplanet and disk results with the PALM-3000 adaptive optics system R. Dekany, R. Burruss, C. Shelton, B. Oppenheimer, G. Vasisht, S. Metchev, J. Roberts, J. Tesch, T. Truong, J. Milburn, D. Hale, C. Baranec, S. Hildebrandt, M. Wahl, C. Beichman, L. Hillenbrand, R. Patel, S. Hinkley, E. Cady & I. Parry AO4ELT3, 13289, 2013.

Electric field conjugation with the project 1640 coronagraph E. Cady, C. Baranec, C. Beichman, D. Brenner, R. Burruss, J. Crepp, R. Dekany, D. Hale, L. Hillenbrand, S. Hinkley, D. King, T. Lockhart, B. Oppenheimer, I. Parry, L. Pueyo, E. Rice, L. Roberts, J. Roberts, M. Shao, A. Sivaramakrishnan, R. Soummer, T. Truong, G. Vasisht, F. Vescelus, K. Wallace, C. Zhai & N. Zimmerman Proc. SPIE Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VI, ed. S. Shaklan, 8864, 2013.

KAPAO: a MEMS-based natural guide star adaptive optics system S. Severson, P. Choi, D. Contreras, B. Gilbreth, E. Littleton, L. McGonigle, W. Morrison, A. Rudy, J. Wong, A. Xue, E. Spjut, C. Baranec & R. Riddle Proc. SPIE MEMS Adaptive Optics VII, eds. S. Olivier, T. Bifano & J. Kubby, 8617, 2013.

Robo-AO: autonomous and replicable laser-adaptive-optics and science system C. Baranec, R. Riddle, A. N. Ramaprakash, N. Law, S. Tendulkar, S. Kulkarni, R. Dekany, K. Bui, J. Davis, M. Burse, H. Das, S. Hildebrandt & R. Smith Proc. SPIE Adaptive Optics Systems III, eds. B. Ellerbroek, E. Marchetti & J-P. Véran, 8447, 2012.

The Robo-AO software: autonomous operation of a laser guide star adaptive optics system R. Riddle, M. Burse, S. Tendulkar, C. Baranec, A. N. Ramaprakash, N. Law, R. Dekany, A. Rudy, M. Sitt, A. Arya & A. Papadopoulos ibid.

Results from the PALM-3000 high-order adaptive optics system J. Roberts, R. Dekany, R. Burruss, C. Baranec, A. Bouchez, E. Croner, S. Guiwits, D. Hale, J. Henning, D. Palmer, M. Troy, T. Truong & J. Zolkower ibid.

Robo-AO: An Autonomous Laser Adaptive Optics and Science System C. Baranec, R. Riddle, A. N. Ramaprakash, N. Law, S. Tendulkar, S. Kulkarni, R. Dekany, K. Bui, J. Davis, J. Zolkower, J. Fucik, M. Burse, H. Das, P. Chordia, M. Kasliwal, E. Ofek, T. Morton & J. Johnson OSA Conference on Adaptive Optics: Methods, Analysis and Applications, ed. J. Christou & D. Miller, Toronto, 2011.

Status of the PALM-3000 high-order adaptive optics system A. Bouchez, R. Dekany, J. Roberts, J. Angione, C. Baranec, K. Bui, R. Burruss, E. Croner, S. Guiwits, D. Hale, J. Henning, D. Palmer, J. C. Shelton, M. Troy, T. Truong, J. K. Wallace & J. Zolkower Proc. SPIE Adaptive Optics Systems II, eds. B. Ellerbroek, M. Hart, N. Hubin & P. Wizinowich, 7736-61, 2010.

Status of the PALM-3000 high-order adaptive optics system A. Bouchez, R. Dekany, J. Angione, C. Baranec, K. Bui, R. Burruss, J. Crepp, E. Croner, J. Cromer, S. Guiwits, D. Hale. J. Henning, D. Palmer, J. Roberts, M. Troy, T. Truong & J. Zolkower Proc. SPIE Astronomical Adaptive Optics Systems and Applications IV, eds. R. Tyson & M. Hart, 7439B, 2009.

Wide-field astronomical image compensation with multiple laser-guided adaptive optics M. Hart, M. Milton, C. Baranec, T. Stalcup, K. Powell, E. Bendek, D. McCarthy & C. Kulesa Proc. SPIE Adaptive Coded Aperture Imaging Non-Imaging, and Unconventional Imaging Sensor Systems, eds. S. Rogers, D. P. Casasent, J. J. Dolne, T. J. Karr & V. L. Gamiz, 7468, 2009.

Wide-field image compensation with multiple laser guide stars M. Hart, M. Milton, K. Powell, C. Baranec, T. Stalcup, E. Bendek, D. McCarthy & C. Kulesa Proc. AMOS Technologies Conference, 2009.

High-order wavefront sensing system for PALM-3000 C. Baranec Proc. SPIE Adaptive Optics Systems, eds. N. Hubin, C. Max & P. Wizinowich, 7015, 2008.

The PALM-3000 high-order adaptive optics system for Palomar Observatory A. Bouchez, R. Dekany, J. Angione, C. Baranec, M. Britton, K. Bui, R. Burruss, J. Cromer, S. Guiwits, J. Henning, J. Hickey, D. McKenna, A. Moore, J. Roberts, T. Trinh, R. Tripathi, M. Troy, Tuan N. Truong & V. Velur ibid.

Commissioning the MMT ground-layer and laser tomography adaptive optics systems M. Milton, M. Hart, C. Baranec, T. Stalcup, V. Vaitheeswaran, D. McCarthy & R. Angel ibid.

Ground-Layer Adaptive Optics with Multiple Laser Guide Stars M. Hart, N. M. Milton, C. Baranec, T. Stalcup, K. Powell & K. Hege Proc. AMOS Technologies Conference, 2008.

Astronomical imaging using ground-layer adaptive optics C. Baranec, M. Lloyd-Hart, M. Milton, T. Stalcup, M. Snyder, V. Vaitheeswaran, D. McCarthy & R. Angel Proc. SPIE Astronomical Adaptive Optics Systems and Applications III, eds. R. Tyson & M. Lloyd-Hart, 6691, 2007.

Loki: a ground-layer adaptive optics high-resolution near-infrared survey camera C. Baranec, M. Lloyd-Hart & M. Meyer ibid.

Real-time atmospheric turbulence profile estimation using modal covariance measurements from multiple guide stars M. Milton, M. Lloyd-Hart, J. Bernier & C. Baranec ibid.

Closed-loop results from the MMT’s multi-laser guide star adaptive optics system M. Lloyd-Hart, C. Baranec, N. M. Milton & T. Stalcup Proc. AMOS Technologies Conference, ed. S. Ryan, Wailea, E66-E74, 2007.

Adaptive optics using multiple guide stars C. Baranec, M. Lloyd-Hart, M. Milton, T. Stalcup, M. Snyder & R. Angel Symposium on Seeing, Kona, 2007.

Tomographic reconstruction of stellar wavefronts from multiple laser guide stars (Presentation) C. Baranec, M. Lloyd-Hart, M. Milton, T. Stalcup, M. Snyder & R. Angel Proc. SPIE Advancements in Adaptive Optics II, ed. B. Ellerbroek & D. Bonaccini, 6272, 2006.

Scientific goals for the MMT’s multi-laser-guided adaptive optics M. Lloyd-Hart, T. Stalcup, C. Baranec, M. Milton, M. Rademacher, M. Snyder, M. Meyer & D Eisenstein ibid.

Tomographic reconstruction of stellar wavefronts from multiple laser guide stars C. Baranec, M. Lloyd-Hart, M. Milton, T. Stalcup, M. Snyder & R. Angel MMTO Science Symposium, Tucson, 2006.

Ground layer wavefront reconstruction using dynamically refocused Rayleigh laser beacons (Presentation) C. Baranec, M. Lloyd-Hart, M. Milton, T. Stalcup, M. Snyder, N. Putnam & R. Angel OSA Conference on Adaptive Optics: Analysis and Methods, ed. B. Ellerbroek, Charlotte, 2005.

Development of multi-laser guide star adaptive optics for extremely large telescopes M. Lloyd-Hart, R. Angel, C. Baranec, T. Stalcup, M. Milton, M. Snyder & N. Putnam ibid.

Tests at the MMT of Multi-Laser Guide Star Wavefront Sensing for Advanced Adaptive Optics M. Lloyd-Hart, C. Baranec, N. M. Milton, T. Stalcup, M. Snyder, N. Putnam & R. Angel Proc. AMOS Technologies Conference, 2005.

Progress towards tomographic wavefront reconstruction using dynamically refocused Rayleigh laser beacons (Poster) – Best Student Poster Paper Award. C. Baranec, M. Lloyd-Hart, M. Milton, T. Stalcup, J. Georges, M. Snyder, N. Putnam & R. Angel Proc. SPIE Advancements in Adaptive Optics, ed. D. Bonaccini, B. Ellerbroek & R. Ragazzoni, 5490, 1129-1137, 2004.

Field tests of wavefront sensing with multiple Rayleigh laser guide stars and dynamic refocus T. Stalcup, J. Georges, M. Snyder, C. Baranec, N. Putnam, M. Milton, R. Angel & M. Lloyd-Hart ibid, 1021-1032.

Sky demonstration of potential for ground layer adaptive optics correction (Poster) C. Baranec, M. Lloyd-Hart, J. Codona & M. Milton Proc. SPIE Astronomical Adaptive Optics Systems and Applications, ed. Robert K. Tyson & M. Lloyd-Hart, 5169, 341-348, 2003.

White Papers

Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer D. Mawet, B. Bowler, R. Dekany, K. Wallace, G. Vasisht, E. Serabyn, P. Wizinowich, I. Crossfield, C. Baranec, C. Beichman, M. Fitzgerald, H. Knutson, C. Marois, B. Mennesson, A. Moore, A. Skemer, M. Troy & J. Wang W. M. Keck Observatory White Papers, 2015.

Mapping the Dark Matter Distribution in the Local Universe with The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) and the University of Hawai‘i 2.2-m Robo-AO system C. Baranec, J. Tonry, J. Lu & S. Wright National Research Council O/IR Study White Papers, 2014.

Upgrade to Keck’s interface with US Strategic Command regarding use of lasers C. Baranec & R. Riddle W. M. Keck Observatory White Papers, 2014.

Robotic adaptive optics facilities for 2-m class telescopes C. Baranec Astro2010: The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey Supplement, 2012.

Deployment of low-cost replicable laser adaptive optics on 1-3 meter class telescopes C. Baranec, R. Dekany, S. Kulkarni, N. Law, E. Ofek, M. Kasliwal & V. Velur Astro2010: The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey, 2009.

Planets Around M-dwarfs – Astrometric Detection and Orbit Characterization N. Law, S. Kulkarni, R. Dekany & C. Baranec ibid.

Dissertation

Astronomical adaptive optics using multiple laser guide stars (Presentation) C. Baranec University of Arizona, 2007.

Articles

Robotic Astronomer Finds New Home Caltech News, 15, October 2015.

Robotic Laser Astronomy on the Rise: System Developed by UH Astronomer to Get New Home at National Observatory IfA press release, 12, October 2015.

Robo-AO to Take Over Operation of the KPNO 2.1-m Telescope (Press release) Reed Riddle & Lori Allen NOAO Newsletter, 16, September 2015.

Astronomical instrumentation: Atmospheric blurring has a new enemy Brent Ellerbroek Nature 512, 144–145, 14 August 2014.

Laser-Wielding Robot Probes Exoplanet Systems Nā Kilo Hōkū, 51, 2014.

Baranec Named Sloan Research Fellow Nā Kilo Hōkū, 50, 2014.

New Faculty: Christoph Baranec Nā Kilo Hōkū, 48, 2013.

Seeing Stars with Robots Marcus Woo Engineering & Science, LXXV, Winter 2012.

Seeing Deep Into Space American Institute of Physics/Discoveries and Breakthroughs Inside Science Ivanhoe Newswire, December 2011.

Eyes on the sky Greg Blackman Electro Optics, October 2011. For a true picture R. Ramachandran Frontline, October 2011.

Multiple laser guide star adaptive optics C. Baranec SPIE newsroom, 2009.

New vistas in Adaptive Optics R. Tyson, A. Bouchez & C. Baranec SPIE newsroom video, 2009.

Patents

Compact Laser Projection Systems and Methods C. Baranec & R. Riddle US Patent no. 9,279,977, March 8th, 2016.

Laser Beam Guidance Systems and Methods R. Riddle & C. Baranec US Patent no. 9,405,115, August 2nd, 2016.

Systems and Methods for Modularized Control of Robotic Adaptive Optics and Laser Systems Riddle, R. & Baranec, C. US Patent no. 9,563,053, February 7th, 2017.

• Ay 494, Senior Research Projects, Fall 2022
• Ph 331, Optics, Fall 2021
• Ph 331, Optics, Fall 2019
• Ay 494, Senior Research Projects, Fall 2018
• Ph 331, Optics, Fall 2017
• Ay 494, Senior Research Projects, Fall 2016
• Ph 331, Optics, Fall 2015
• UCSC ISEE Professional Development Program: Participant, 2014 and 2015. Awarded a Certificate in Inclusive Inquiry STEM Education for design and teaching work on the ‘Escape from Zombieland’ computing inquiry at the Akami PREP course in 2015.
• Ph 331, Optics, Fall 2023

Service

• Institute for Astronomy Outreach (2013-present): Featured speaker at 12 public/outreach events (‘Imiloa Mauna Kea Skies, IfA Open House, Frontiers in Astronomy Community Event, The Universe Tonight @ Maunakea Visitors’ Center, HawaiiCon, Office Mauna Kea Management Weed Pull, Pacific Asian Consortium for International Business Education and Research conference, Hilo Bay Rotary Club) and participant in local outreach events (Journey Through the Universe, AstroDay, Hilo Robotics Competition, Waikaloa Village Winterfest, Onizuka Day, IfA Open House, Kealakehe Elementary School Science Night, Hilo Intermediate Science Fair, Panaewa Homestead Kuhio Day Celebration).
• Project reviewer: CHARA adaptive optics wavefront sensor design review, 2013; Giant Magellan Telescope adaptive optics system review, 2013.
• Organizer of the IfA-Hilo TechTalk Series 2013-
• Referee: Optics Letters, Applied Optics, Optics Express, MNRAS, PASP (w/Outstanding Reviewer Award, 2018), JATIS.
• Member of national committees:
  • AURA Solar Observatory Council, 2019-2022
• Member of Institute for Astronomy committees:
  • Faculty Chair, 2021-2023
  • Acting Associate Director IfA Hilo, 2023-2024
  • Acting UH 2.2-m Telescope Director, 2023-2024
  • Graduate Research Oversight Group, 2023-
  • Computer Advisory Committee, 2015-
  • Faculty Advisory Committee, 2016-2019
  • Scientific Staff Screening Committee, 2016-2023
  • Faculty Personnel Committee, 2018, 2020
  • Time Allocation Committee, 2014-2017
  • Faculty Review Committee, 2019, 2023
• Member of local committees:
  • Maunakea Laser Operators Group (MLOG), 2013-
  • UH Hilo Physics and Astronomy Faculty Search Committee, 2016
• Conference Committees:
  • SPIE Adaptive Optics: 2016, 2018, 2020
  • Keck Science Meeting: 2018

Featured Talks

NOAO/SO Joint Colloquium, April 21st, 2016. Hosted by Jayadev Rajagopal.

Caltech Astronomy Colloquium, December 4th, 2013. Hosted by Gregg Hallinan.

Upcoming Talks

Past Talks

IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration, Honolulu, January 14th, 2020.
Dunlap Institute Summer School, Toronto, Canada, July 10th, 2019.
University of North Carolina Colloquium, Chapel Hill, NC, April 22nd, 2019.
NASA/NSF 2018 UV-Vis Program Review Meeting, Washington, D.C., September 14th, 2018. College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, May 16th, 2018.
IRTF Future Directions Workshop, Biosphere 2, AZ, Feb 13th, 2018.
(Presentation) 22nd International Microlensing Conference (Invited), Auckland, New Zealand, January 25-28, 2018.
University of Michigan Astronomy Seminar, Ann Arbor, MI, May 10th, 2017. UCSC Astronomy Colloquium, Santa Cruz, CA, April 5th, 2017.
‘Imiloa Astronomy Center 11th annual Birthday Celebration, Hilo, HI, February 26th, 2017.
SRK60: Compact, Cataclysmic and Catastrophic, Temecula, CA, October 3rd, 2016.
IfA Astrocoffee Talks, Hilo/Manoa, HI, September 16th, 2016.
NOAO/Steward Observatory Joint Colloquium, Tucson, AZ, April 21st, 2016.
AAS Winter Meeting, Kissimmee, FL, January 8th, 2016.
Extreme Solar Systems III, Waikoloa, HI, December 1st, 2015. AST 740 Astrobiology Seminar, UH Manoa, HI, September 21st, 2015.
Future AO for the VLT, ESO HQ, Garching, Germany, September 16th, 2015.
HawaiiCon, Kohala Coast, HI, September 11th, 2015.
Canada-France-Hawai`i Telescope Headquarters, Waimea, HI, April 30th, 2015.
The Universe Tonight, Maunakea Visitor Information Station, HI, March 7th, 2015.
Center for Adaptive Optics Fall Science Retreat, Lake Arrowhead, CA, November 15th, 2014. (Presentation)
Frontiers of Astronomy Community Event, Mānoa, HI, October 8th, 2014. (Presentation)
Caltech Ground-layer Adaptive Optics Workshop, Pasadena, CA, September 14th, 2014. (Presentation)
UCSB Astrophysics Seminar, Santa Barbara, CA, May 21st, 2014. Yale Astronomy Colloquium, New Haven, CT, April 17th, 2014.
Boston University Astrophysics Colloquium, Boston, MA, April 16th, 2014.
Institute for Astronomy Open House, Mānoa, HI, April 6th, 2014. (Presentation)
‘Imiloa Manua Kea Skies Talk, Hilo, HI, December 20th, 2013.
Caltech Astronomy Colloquium, Pasadena, CA, December 4th, 2013. (Multimedia Presentation)
UCLA Astrophysics Colloquium, Los Angeles, CA, November 13th, 2013.
Keck Observatory Headquarters, Waimea, HI, September 26th, 2013.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite science meeting, Cambridge, MA, May 19th, 2013. (Presentation)
Rochester Institute of Technology, Physics and Center for Detectors Colloquium, Rochester, NY, April 30th, 2013. (Presentation)
Pasadena Postdoc Retreat, Lake Arrowhead, CA, April 25, 2013. Rochester Institute of Technology, Center for Imaging Science, Rochester, NY, February 5th, 2013.
Institute for Astronomy Colloquium, Mānoa, HI, January 15th, 2013.
Institute for Astronomy Tech Talk, Hilo, HI, January 14th, 2013.
Palomar Science Meeting, Pasadena, CA, November 15th, 2012.
Observational Cosmology Lunch Seminar, Pasadena, CA, November 15th, 2012.
Rochester Institute of Technology, Center for Detectors, Rochester, NY, November 7th, 2012.
Center for Adaptive Optics Fall Science Retreat, Lake Arrowhead, CA, November 3th, 2012.
Friends of Palomar talk, Palomar Mountain, CA, October 6th, 2012.
Institute for Astronomy Tech Talk, Hilo, HI, September 26th, 2012.
Institute for Astronomy Colloquium, Mānoa, HI, September 24th, 2012.
Carnegie Institution for Science, Pasadena, CA, September 21st, 2012.
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network Science Seminar, Goleta, CA, September 20th, 2012.
Caltech Astronomy Tea Talk, Pasadena, CA, September 17th, 2012.
Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, July 20th, 2012.
NOAO FLASH, Tucson, AZ, June 22nd, 2012.
Center for Adaptive Optics Fall Science Retreat, Lake Arrowhead, CA, November 12th, 2011.
UC-CfAO Adaptive Optics Seminar, UC Berkeley, October 4th, 2011.
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, India, August 22-25, 2011.
Integrity Applications Inc., Ann Arbor, MI, July 25th, 2011.
Friends of Palomar talk, Palomar Mountain, CA, June 25th, 2011.
NOAO ReSTAR Phase 2 Preselection Meeting, Tucson, AZ, November 15th, 2010.
Center for Adaptive Optics Fall Science Retreat, Lake Arrowhead, CA, October 30th, 2010.
National Central University, Jhongli, Taiwan, October 28th, 2010.
OPT Astronomy Symposium, Palomar Mountain, CA, July 10th, 2010.
Caltech Astronomy Tea Talk, Pasadena, CA, May 17th, 2010. (Presentation)
Ay 122 Guest Lecture, Pasadena, CA, February 18th, 2010. (Presentation)
Center for Adaptive Optics Fall Science Retreat, Lake Arrowhead, CA, November 7th, 2009.
Physics and Astronomy Colloquium, Pomona College, CA, November 3rd, 2009.
Caltech Astronomy Tea Talk, Pasadena, CA, March 30th, 2009. (Presentation)
Optical Sciences Community Speakers Series, Tucson, AZ, August 24th, 2007. (Presentation)
MPE Colloquium, Garching, Germany, June 25th 2007.
MPIA, Heidelberg, Germany, May 12th 2007.
General Dynamics, Ann Arbor, MI, April 16th 2007.
Optical Sciences Industrial Affiliates, Tucson, AZ, March 3rd 2007.
Steward Observatory Internal Symposium, Tucson, AZ, February 28th 2007.

Memberships

• SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering (2004-lifetime; Senior Member as of 2011).
• OSA - Optical Society of America (2005-lifetime; Senior Member as of 2017).

Grants

• Principal Investigator (PI) for the Robo-AO adaptive optics and science system. (NSF grant AST-0906060: $576,782; IUCAA collaborator funds: $615,000; gift funding from Samuel Oschin: $100,000)
• PI for "Research on Astrometric Error Sources in HgCdTe Arrays." (Office of Naval Research/DURIP grant N00014-11-1-0903: $208,525)
• PI for "A near-infrared science and tip-tilt camera for Robo-AO." (NSF grant AST-1207891: $261,921)
• PI for "Automation and initial science demonstration of the Robo-AO laser guide star and science system." (Mt. Cuba Astronomical Foundation: $99,306)
• PI for the real-time software development sub-award of Pomona College’s Table mountain adaptive optics system. (NSF grant AST-0960343: $100,000)
• PI for "Extremely wide-field adaptive optics for precision astronomy of exoplanets." (Mt. Cuba Astronomical Foundation: $96,400)
• US-PI for "Workshop on astronomy with adaptive optics on moderate-sized telescopes" at IUCAA, Pune, India. (IUSSTF 75-2010-WS-Adaptive Optics: $38,000)
• PI for "Upgrade to Keck’s interface with US Strategic Command regarding use of lasers." (W. M. Keck Observatory: $32,861)
• Institutional-PI for "The Robo-AO survey of Kepler exoplanet hosts." (NASA Exoplanets Research Program NNX15AC91G: $168,161 out of $437,362 total)
• Subaward PI for "Mechanical Engineering support for Robo-AO Kitt Peak." (Rohan Murty prime-grantor; Caltech sub-grantor: $64,288)
• Subaward PI for "Infrared camera deployment in support of Enriching the harvest of exoplanets," (John Templeton Foundation prime-grantor; Caltech sub-grantor: $56,611)
• PI for "An infrared avalanche photodiode array camera for Robo-AO Kitt Peak." (Mt. Cuba Astronomical Foundation: $100,000)
• Subaward PI for "Robo-AO Kitt Peak observing support for Disk Detective Follow-up Program," (NASA Exoplanets Research Program NNX17AD64G, PI Marc Kuchner: $22,128)
• PI for "A robotic telescope for rapid astronomical observations and demonstration of hybrid adaptive optics," (NSF grant AST-1712014; $930,970)
• Co-PI for "Refining the Radii of Exoplanet Host Stars," (PI D. Huber: NSF grant AST-1717000; $278,033)
• Co-PI for "A new adaptive secondary mirror for astronomy," (PI M. Chun: NSF grant AST-1910552; $1,154,117)
• Co-PI for "Development of a Robotic University of Hawaii 88" Telescope (Robo88): A new tool for large surveys, rapid transient classification, and multimessenger astronomy," (PI B. Shappee: NSF grant AST-1920392; $991,297)

Honors

• 2014 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship
• 2017 Board of Regents' Medal for Excellence in Research

Graduate Students

Undergraduate Students

Other