About Me

Hi! I am an assistant professor at Leiden Observatory / Leiden University.

Have a look at ADS or arXiv for a complete overview of publications, and Github for software packages I have developed.

Contact

Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands

Office: BW.4.06 (Gorlaeus Building)

Email: stolker@strw.leidenuniv.nl

Languages: Dutch, English

Pronouns: he/him

Research Interest

My research focuses on the direct detection and characterization of exoplanets using high-contrast imaging, spectroscopy, interferometry, and astrometry. I investigate the atmospheres, orbits, and evolution of young giant planets and brown dwarfs. By studying the planets themselves, their host stars, and their formation environments, I aim to understand how giant planets form and how planetary systems evolve.

Topics

Giant planet formation and evolution · Exoplanet atmospheres · Planetary architectures · Orbital dynamics · Circumplanetary disks · Protoplanetary disks

Methods

High-contrast imaging · Spectroscopy · Interferometry · Gaia astrometry · Atmospheric modeling and retrieval · Orbital modeling · Bayesian inference · Image processing

Software

• exogaia: Software for simulating and analyzing Gaia epoch astrometry to identify companions and characterize their dynamical masses and orbital properties.

• calistar: Tool for finding calibration stars and retrieving stellar parameters.

• pycrires: Data reduction pipeline / wrapper for high-resolution spectroscopy data obtained with CRIRES+ at the VLT.

• species: Toolkit for atmospheric characterization of directly imaged exoplanets.

• PynPoint: Pipeline for processing and analysis of high-contrast imaging data.

• ARTES: A 3D Monte Carlo radiative transfer code specifically designed for (polarized) scattered light simulations of planetary atmospheres (reflected and thermal light).

• diskmap: A tool for scattered light mapping of protoplanetary disks, including 3D deprojection and extraction of phase functions.