I am a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) graduate student at Department of Astronomy, the University of Arizona. I am working with Prof. Daniel Apai. We take the challenge to study the cloud structure of planetary mass companions with time-resolved HST observation. I took my undergraduate education at Peking University. I used to work with Prof. Greg Herczeg on accretion processes of low mass companions. Please check out my CV below if you are interested
Education
- University of Arizona, Ph.D. Candidate, 2014-present
- Peking University, B.Sc in Astronomy, 2010-2014
Research
- The Ultra-cool Cloud Atlas: Exploring Vertical Cloud Structure and the Role of Gravity in Exoplanet and Brown Dwarf Atmospheres
current
advisor: Daniel Apai
- Patchy clouds of planetary mass companions
2014-2015
advisor: Daniel Apai
- Accretion onto planetary mass companions
2012-2014
advisor: Greg Herczeg
- Fe emission lines observation of accreting classic T Tauri stars
2013 summer
advisor: Nuria Calvet, Laura Ingleby
Conferences and Presentations
- Contributed talk, Exoplanet II, July 2018, Cambridge, UK
- Contribute talk, Star and Planet Formation in the Southwest 2, Mar 2018, Oracle, AZ
- Seminar talk, Origin Seminar, Mar 2018, Tucson, AZ
- Seminar talk, CPSX Research Forum at Western University, Jan 2018, London, Ontario, Canada
- Seminar talk, KIAA lunch talk, Jan 2018, Beijing, China
- Seminar talk, PSF Coffee at MPIA, Dec 2017, Heidelberg, Germany
- Contribute talk, BDEXOCON, Nov 2017, Newark, DL
- Seminar talk, Origin Seminar, Apr 2017, Tucson, AZ
- Poster, Les Houches Winter School, Mar 2017, Les Houches, France
- Contribute talk, Exoclimes II, Aug 2016, Squamish, Canada
- NExSS Winter School, Feb 2016, Oracle, AZ
- Star and Planet Formation in the Southwest 1, Mar 2015, Oracle, AZ
Awards
- NASA Earth and Space Fellowship (NESSF) 2016 –
Publications
- Cloud Atlas: Hubble Space Telescope Near-Infrared Spectral Library of Brown Dwarfs, Planetary-mass companions, and hot Jupiters, Elena Manjavacas, Daniel Apai, Yifan Zhou, et al., AJ, submitted
- The Near-Infrared Transmission Spectra of TRAPPIST-1 Planets b, c, d, e, f, and g and Stellar Contamination in Multi-Epoch Transit Spectra, Zhanbo Zhang, Yifan Zhou, Ben Rackham, Daniel Apai, 2018, AJ, submitted
- Helium in the eroding atmosphere of an exoplanet, Jessica Spake, et al. (incl. Yifan Zhou), 2018, Nature,Volume 557, Issue 7703, p.68-70
- Cloud Atlas: Rotational Modulations in the L/T Transition Brown Dwarf Companion HN Peg B, Yifan Zhou, Dániel Apai, Stanimir Metchev, et al., 2018, AJ, 155, 132
- Cloud Atlas: Discovery of Rotational Spectral Modulations in a Low-mass, L-type Brown Dwarf Companion to a Star Elena Manjavacas, Dániel Apai, Yifan Zhou, et al., 2017, AJ, 155, 11
- A Physical Model-based Correction for Charge Traps in the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 Near-IR Detector and Applications to Transiting Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs Yifan Zhou, Dániel Apai, Ben W. P. Lew, Glenn Schneider, 2017, AJ, 153, 243
- Cloud Atlas: Discovery of Patchy Clouds and High-Amplitude Rotational Modulations in a Young, Extremely Red L-Type Brown Dwarf, Ben W. P. Lew, Dániel Apai, Yifan Zhou, Glenn Schneider et al., 2016 ApJ Letters, 829, L32
- Discovery of Rotational Modulations in the Planetary-mass Companion 2M1207b: Intermediate Rotation Period and Heterogeneous Clouds in a Low Gravity Atmosphere, Yifan Zhou; Dániel Apai, Glenn Schneider, Mark S. Marley, Adam P. Showman, 2016, ApJ, 818, 176Z
- Accretion onto Planetary Mass Companions of Low-Mass Young Stars, Yifan Zhou, Gregory J. Herczeg, Adam Kraus, Stanimir Metchev, Kelle Cruz, 2014, ApJ Letters, 783, L17