Hi, I'm James ManG
I am a fifth-year Astronomy graduate student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin working with Prof. Caroline Morley. I'm interested in the characterization of exoplanet atmospheres to deepen our understanding of these distant worlds.
If you are interested in my work or potential collaborations, please take a look at my CV or contact me!
ABOUT ME
I study the atmospheres of ultra-cool brown dwarfs and temperate giant exoplanets. I’m interested in how their chemistry, clouds, and atmospheric dynamics shape the spectra we see. With JWST, we are now directly imaging benchmark systems that approach true Solar System analogs, and I use these objects to better understand the diversity and formation of cold substellar objects.
My current work focuses on water cloud formation in these cold atmospheres and how it impacts observations. I also develop open-source frameworks like PICASO, and generate atmospheric models to interpret JWST data and prepare for future observations with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and upcoming Extremely Large Telescopes.​
My research
Studying H2O Cloud Formation & Properties
Water clouds are expected to form in cool brown dwarfs and giant planets with Teff < 450 K. Cloud distributions are controlled by microphysical processes such as nucleation and condensation, which hasn’t been considered in detail for water clouds in H/He atmospheres. In the first paper (left), I investigate the impact of including microphysical water clouds in the atmosphere. In the second paper (right), I provide recommendations for the best practices to include water clouds in these atmospheres when using parameterized cloud models. Our results are the first step towards constraining water clouds' impact on cooler worlds to inform observations by JWST.
Developing Climate Modeling Tools
I am committed to open science and developing open-source software that enables others to validate, reproduce, and build on our work. In this spirit, I was the lead developer of PICASO 4.0, the latest version of the climate modeling and spectral synthesis framework. PICASO 4.0 is a fully open-source, self-consistent, cloud-coupled climate modeling framework. It also introduces new capabilities, including flexible chemical prescriptions, photochemistry, and parameterized external energy injection. For more details on these updates, see the paper below.
Generating Atmospheric & Evolutionary Models
Using PICASO, I am developing the next generation of Sonora models, Sonora Flame Skimmer. This new grid is designed to interpret the unprecedented detail revealed by JWST observations of ultra-cool substellar objects, including newly imaged planets that resemble the gas and ice giants in our Solar System. Sonora Flame Skimmer extends to temperatures as low as 50 K and surface gravities down to log(g) = 2, spanning a wide range of metallicities ([M/H] = −1 to +2) and including both equilibrium and disequilibrium chemistry.