Claudio Melo

RESEARCH ~ PUBLICATIONS ~ DOCUMENTS

Inspired by the work of Stephen Covey, great masters such as Mas Oyama and Gichin Funakoshi and the Zen popular literature, I have tried to exercise two main ideas in my doings: i) a servant leadership where my actions are emphatic and kind in nature and aimed to empower and give voice to those around me unleashing their potential to the mutual benefit of the Organization and the people working on it; and ii) strive to demonstrate initiative in all things and never fear action. 

As ESO Representative in Chile, I am thrilled to use the wonders of the Universe and the educational potential of Astronomy to inspire the youth across the world and specially in Chile. I truly believe in the virtuous circle that science creates in society and in the collaborative roots upon which ESO stands. Along with the ESO staff in Chile, we take care of nurturing the already very good relations with the Government Officials, the vibrant scientific community in Chile - our Host State - and in the ESO fifteen member states.





Research
Publications
Documents

RESEARCH

SEarch and characterization of Extrasolar planets in the near-infrared

Giving the considerable lower stellar noise and the wealth of molecular information, the future of the search and characterization of extrasolar planets requires precise high-resolution measurements acquired in the NIR likely with simultaneous optical spectroscopic observations. In the recent years, along with collaborators of the Institute of Astronomy (Porto), I have been involved in pioneering the extraction of RV in H - and K-band

The next [big] step

After almost 20 years of an extraordinary development, the field of extrasolar planets is heading to revolutionize mankind by answering one of the most enduring questions we have ever asked: are we alone in the universe? To answer to that question we need to find habitable planets and be able to study their atmospheres. An armada of space missions is scheduled to fly during the next decade starting with the lunch of the JWST (2018) together with TESS (NASA, 2017/2018), CHEOPS (ESA 2018), and later PLATO (ESA, 2024). Ground based precise spectroscopic measurements collected from the ground are essential to characterize those planets. 

I am an ad-hoc senior member (and former co-PI) of the Science Team of the Near InfraRed Planet Searcher (NIRPS) that will be mounted on the 3.6-m acquiring simultaneous observations with HARPS with a precision better than 1m/s. Together NIRPS+HARPS will make a unique powerful high-resolution precise spectrograph covering from 0.4 to 1.8 microns. NIRPS+HARPS will open up the path to look for habitable planets around M-type stars by following up the candidates found by the upcoming space missions. It will validate earth-like planets found around G and K-type stars whose signal is at the same order of magnitude than the stellar noise. Thanks to its high-resolution (100,000) and wide wavelength range, NIRPS+HARPS will be very competitive in the detection of reflected light and transmission spectroscopy studies.

In 2016, to avoid conflicts of interest, Melo left the co-PIship of the project and he is now a senior ad-hoc member of the Science Team.  The NIRPS consortium is composed by Switzerland, Canada, Brazil, Portugal and Spain. The co-PIs are Francois Bouchy (Switzerland) and Rene Doyon (Canada). The project has passed FDR and has its first light scheduled for the second half of 2019.



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EDUCATION

1996-2001
Geneva Observatory (Geneva University), Geneva, Switzerland
PhD (Astrophysics), 2001, Binarity among T-Tauri stars
Advisor: Prof. Michel Mayor

1994-1996
Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil
M.Sc. (Astrophysics), 1996, Heating processes in the upper atmosphere of evolved giant stars
Advisor: Prof. Jose Renan de Medeiros

1990-1994
Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil 
B.Sc. (Physics)

EMPLOYMENT

Since 2018
ESO Representative in Chile
European Southern Observatory, ESO/Chile

2013-2013
Head of the Office for Science in Chile
European Southern Observatory, Office for Science, ESO/Chile

2010-2013
Operations Staff Astronomer (Associate Astronomer)
European Southern Observatory, Paranal Observatory, ESO/Chile

2008-2010
User Support Staff Astronomer (Associate Astronomer)
European Southern Observatory, User Support Department, ESO/Germany

2005-2008
Operations Staff Astronomer (Assistant Astronomer)
European Southern Observatory, Paranal Observatory, ESO/Chile

2002-2005
ESO Fellow with duties at Paranal Observatory
European Southern Observatory
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About me

aboutmePublicationsdocs