Research

Discovering and Characterizing Exoplanets

My research spans a variety of topics related to the formation, evolution, architectures, and atmospheres of extrasolar planets with an emphasis on high-contrast imaging, near-infrared spectroscopy, and precision radial velocities. It is motivated by few basic questions:

• How and when do planets form and dynamically evolve over time?
• What mechanisms drive the orbital evolution of planets?
• How does atmospheric chemistry vary over a broad range of planet masses and ages?
• How common are planets on wide orbits and how do their statistical properties vary with orbital distance, planet mass, and host star properties?
• What is the relationship between giant planets and their higher-mass brown dwarf counterparts?
• What technical and strategic steps need to be taken to ultimately image and characterize Earth analogs?

My group uses a multipronged approach to answer these questions by carrying out large surveys to discover new planets and measure their statistical properties, performing more targeted individual studies of the atmospheric and orbital properties of known systems, and studying the immediate environments and formation routes of young planets through their circumplanetary accretion disks. More details can be found in the publications listed below and the following review papers: "Imaging Extrasolar Giant Planets", "Occurrence Rates from Direct Imaging Surveys".

Select Publications

• "Halpha Variability of AB Aur b with the Hubble Space Telescope: Probing the Nature of a Protoplanet Candidate with Accretion Light Echoes"
  Bowler, B. P. et al., 2025, AJ, in press
• "Rotation Periods, Inclinations, and Obliquities of Cool Stars Hosting Directly Imaged Substellar Companions: Spin-Orbit Misalignments are Common"
  Bowler, B. P. et al., 2023, AJ, 165, 164
• "The McDonald Accelerating Stars Survey (MASS): Discovery of a Long-period Substellar Companion Orbiting the Old Solar Analog HD 47127"
  Bowler, B. P. et al., 2021, ApJ, 913, 26
• "Strong Near-infrared Spectral Variability of the Young Cloudy L Dwarf Companion VHS J1256-1257 b"
  Bowler, B. P. et al., 2020, ApJL, 893, 30
• "Population-Level Eccentricity Distributions of Imaged Exoplanets and Brown Dwarf Companions: Dynamical Evidence for Distinct Formation Channels"
  Bowler, B. P., Blunt, S., & Nielsen, E. L. 2020, AJ, 159, 63
• "Orbit and Dynamical Mass of the Late-T Dwarf GL 758 B"
  Bowler, B. P. et al. 2018, AJ, 155, 159
• "Planets Around Low-Mass Stars (PALMS). VI. Discovery of a Remarkably Red Planetary-Mass Companion to the AB Dor Moving Group Candidate 2MASS J22362452+4751425"
  Bowler, B. P. et al. 2017, AJ, 153, 18
• "Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of 2M0441+2301 AabBab: A Quadruple System Spanning the Stellar to Planetary Mass Regimes"
  Bowler, B. P. & Hillenbrand, L. A. 2015, ApJL, 811, 30
• "An ALMA Constraint on the GSC 6214-210 B Circum-substellar Accretion Disk Mass"
  Bowler, B. P. et al. 2015, ApJL, 805, 17
• "Planets Around Low-Mass Stars (PALMS). IV. The Outer Architecture of M Dwarf Planetary Systems"
  Bowler, B. P., Liu, M. C., Shkolnik, E. L., Tamura, M., 2015, ApJS, 216, 7
• "Spectroscopic Confirmation of Young Planetary-Mass Companions on Wide Orbits"
  Bowler, B. P., Liu, M. C., Kraus, A. L., Mann, A. W., 2014, ApJ, 784, 65
  
  

  Recent Highlights from My Group

  Gaussian process models can impact inferred planet properties Tran & Bowler 2024

  AF Lep b through the eyes of JWST Franson et al. 2024

  Construct: Direct Exoplanet Detection using Convolutional Image Reconstruction Wolf et al. 2024

  Introducing the Young Hot Jupiter HS Psc b Tran et al. 2024

  Deep PaBeta imaging of a candidate young planet Biddle et al. 2024

  AB Aur b: protoplanet or scattered light? Zhou et al. 2023

  Stellar obliquities out to 2 AU Morgan et al. 2024

  Orbit and dynamical mass of PZ Tel B Franson & Bowler 2023

  AF Lep b: a young giant planet accelerating its host star Franson et al. 2023

  On hyperpriors and eccentricities Nagpal et al. 2023

  The first T dwarf companion in the Hyades Franson et al. 2023

  VHS1256-1257 b: the most variable substellar object known! Zhou et al. 2022a

  Architecture of a compact 5-planet system Zhang et al. 2022

  A candidate accreting protoplanet around AB Aur Zhou et al. 2022b

  Discovery of a transiting warm Jupiter with an inner Neptune Tran et al. 2022

  ALMA imaging of a circumplanetary dust disk Wu et al. 2022

  Dynamical mass of the exoplanet host star HR 8799 Sepulveda & Bowler 2022

  Reference star differential imaging Sanghi et al. 2022

  Accreting protoplanets with HST Zhou et al. 2021

  Dynamical mass of a young brown dwarf Franson et al. 2021

  Young planets around young stars with near-infrared precision RVs Tran et al. 2021

  Spitzer variability of a planetary-mass companion Zhou et al. 2020

  ALMA search for circumplanetary disks Wu et al. 2020

  • "Gaussian Process Models Impact the Inferred Properties of Giant Planets around Active Stars"
    Tran, Q. H. & Bowler, B. P., 2024, AJ, in press
  • "JWST/NIRCam 4-5 um Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep b"
    Franson, K., Balmer, W. O., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2024, AJL, in press
  • "Deep PaBeta Imaging of the Candidate Accreting Protoplanet AB Aur b"
    Biddle, L. I., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2024, AJ, 167, 172
  • "The Epoch of Giant Planet Migration Planet Search Program. II. A Young Hot Jupiter Candidate around the AB Dor Member HS Psc"
    Tran, Q. H., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2024, AJ, 167, 193
  • "Direct Exoplanet Detection using Convolutional Image Reconstruction (ConStruct): A New Algorithm for Post-processing High-contrast Images"
    Wolf, T. N., Jones, B. A., & Bowler, B. P. 2024, AJ, 167, 92
  • "Signs of Similar Stellar Obliquity Distributions for Hot and Warm Jupiters Orbiting Cool Stars"
    Morgan, M., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2024, AJ, 167, 48
  • "Dynamical Mass of the Young Brown Dwarf Companion PZ Tel B"
    Franson, K. & Bowler, B. P. 2023, AJ, 165, 246
  • "UV-optical Emission of AB Aur b Is Consistent with Scattered Stellar Light"
    Zhou, Y., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2023, AJ, 166, 220
  • "Astrometric Accelerations as Dynamical Beacons: A Giant Planet Imaged Inside the Debris Disk of the Young Star AF Lep"
    Franson, K., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2023, ApJ, 950, 19
  • "The Impact of Bayesian Hyperpriors on the Population-Level Eccentricity Distribution of Imaged Planets"
    Nagpal, V., Blunt, S., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2023, AJ, 165, 32
  • "Astrometric Accelerations as Dynamical Beacons: Discovery and Characterization of HIP 21152 B, the First T-Dwarf Companion in the Hyades"
    Franson, K., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2023, AJ, 165, 39
  • "Roaring Storms in the Planetary-Mass Companion VHS 1256-1257 b: Hubble Space Telescope Multi-epoch Monitoring Reveals Vigorous Evolution in an Ultra-cool Atmosphere"
    Zhou, Y., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2022, AJ, 164, 239
  • "The McDonald Accelerating Stars Survey (MASS): Architecture of the Ancient Five-Planet Host System Kepler-444"
    Zhang, Z., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2023, AJ, 165, 73
  • "HST/WFC3 Halpha Direct-imaging Detection of a Pointlike Source in the Disk Cavity of AB Aur"
    Zhou, Y., Sanghi, A., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2022, ApJ, 934, 13
  • "ALMA Discovery of a Disk around the Planetary-mass Companion SR 12 c"
    Wu, Y.-L., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2022, ApJ, 930, 3
  • "TOI-1670 b and c: An Inner Sub-Neptune with an Outer Warm Jupiter Unlikely to Have Originated from High-eccentricity Migration"
    Tran, Q. H., Bowler, B. P., et al. 2022, AJ, 163, 225
  • "Efficiently Imaging Accreting Protoplanets from Space: Reference Star Differential Imaging of the PDS 70 Planetary System using the HST/WFC3 Archival PSF Library"
    Sanghi, A., Zhou, Y., Bowler, B. P., 2022, ApJ, 934, 13
  • "Dynamical Mass of the Exoplanet Host Star HR 8799"
    Sepulveda & Bowler, 2022, AJ, 163, 52
  • "Dynamical Mass of the Young Substellar Companion HD 984 B"
    Franson, K., Bowler, B. P., et al., 2022, AJ, 163, 50
  • "Hubble Space Telescope UV and Halpha Measurements of the Accretion Excess Emission from the Young Giant Planet PDS 70 b"
    Zhou, Y., Bowler, B. P., et al., 2021, AJ, 161, 244
  • "The Epoch of Giant Planet Migration Planet Search Program. I. Near-infrared Radial Velocity Jitter of Young Sun-like Stars"
    Tran, Q. H., Bowler, B. P., et al., 2021, AJ, 161, 173
  • "Spectral Variability of VHS J1256-1257b from 1 to 5 um"
    Zhou, Y., Bowler, B. P., et al., 2020, AJ, 160, 77
  • "ALMA 0.88 mm Survey of Disks around Planetary-mass Companions"
    Wu, Y.-L., Bowler, B. P., et al., 2020, AJ, 159, 229