Néstor Espinoza
Associate Astronomer With Tenure
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Summary
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Senior🎓
Top SchoolNéstor Espinoza is an Associate Astronomer with tenure at the Space Telescope Science Institute who specializes in exoplanet discovery and atmospheric characterization using JWST, HST, and TESS. Over 11 years he has led and co-led flagship JWST programs, developed widely used open-source tools for transit spectroscopy and data analysis, and published broadly while mentoring early-career scientists. As STScI’s Mission Scientist for Exoplanet Science and Core Implementation Lead for the joint “Rocky Worlds” DDT program, he bridges science strategy and mission operations to maximize flagship observatory returns. Trained with a PhD from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and a Bernoulli fellowship at MPIA, he combines strong statistical skills with hands-on observational expertise. Beyond research, he’s committed to science communication and community-driven software that enables reproducible exoplanet science.
11 years of coding experience
9 years of employment as a software developer
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Astrophysics, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Astrophysics at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
English
Stackoverflow
585reputation
34kreached
2answers
11questions
Github Skills (65)
simulator10
radial10
binning10
tool-kit10
modeling-tool10
coefficients10
journal9
open-access9
astronomy9
visualization9
astrophysics9
science8
python8
transit8
exposure8
Programming languages (7)
Github contributions (5)
nespinoza/limb-darkening
Jan 2015 - Aug 2022
Codes to generate limb-darkening coefficients using arbitrary response functions as explained in Espinoza & Jordan (2015)
Contributions:20 commits, 3 PRs, 26 pushes in 7 years 7 months
jordanexplainedarbitrarycoefficients
nespinoza/exonailer
Nov 2015 - Jul 2018
Tools for fitting transiting exoplanet lightcurves and radial velocities
Contributions:123 commits, 84 pushes, 2 branches in 2 years 8 months
lightcurvesradialexoplanetfittingradial-velocities
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