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UC Santa Cruz student wins fellowship for exoplanet research
Sagnick Mukherjee, who had his early schooling in Kolkata, is among eight new fellows recognized by The Heising-Simons Foundation for their outstanding contributions to the field.
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Pranavi Sharma - Fri, 04, Apr 2025
- 01:47 EDT
- 264
Sagnick Mukherjee / UC Santa Cruz
Sagnick Mukherjee, an Indian-origin astronomy Ph.D. candidate at UC Santa Cruz, has been awarded the prestigious 51 Pegasi b Fellowship, one of the most sought-after postdoctoral awards in planetary astronomy. The Heising-Simons Foundation announced on Mar.27 that Mukherjee is among eight new fellows recognized for their outstanding contributions to the field.
The 51 Pegasi b Fellowship, established in 2017, supports early-career scientists conducting research in planetary astronomy, providing up to $450,000 over three years for independent research, salary, and discretionary funding. It also offers mentorship opportunities and the possibility of an additional fourth year of funding for those transitioning to faculty or permanent research positions.
Mukherjee, who will receive his Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics this spring, focuses on modeling planetary atmosphere-interior interactions to investigate the mysteries surrounding sub-Neptunes—the most common type of planet in the galaxy but absent from our own solar system. His work seeks to answer fundamental questions about their formation, composition, and potential to sustain life.
“Our solar system has just eight planets, each providing a single example of how planets form,” Mukherjee told SC Santa Cruz. “With more than 5,000 confirmed extrasolar planets, we can test planet formation in a statistically robust way.”
Mukherjee's fascination with exoplanets deepened when he collaborated with global scientists at UC Santa Cruz to analyze the first observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in 2022. His findings on a Saturn-like exoplanet even reached his father in India through a local Bengali newspaper, reinforcing his passion for scientific discovery and its far-reaching impact.
The advent of JWST has revolutionized exoplanetary research, allowing scientists to study smaller planets like sub-Neptunes in unprecedented detail. However, many current theoretical models struggle to explain their characteristics. Mukherjee aims to bridge this gap by developing a more comprehensive model that incorporates sub-Neptunes’ atmospheric composition, cloud cover, and interactions between their atmospheres and interiors.
“Because sub-Neptunes have an intermediate size, their interiors can influence their atmospheres by a huge amount,” Mukherjee said. “For example, magma oceans on the surface can spew out gases and change what we’re observing. The theoretical models we use must account for interconnected effects, like clouds and interior-atmosphere interactions, to fully understand these worlds.”
Beyond research, Mukherjee is a staunch advocate for open-source modeling and diversity in science. He has mentored students from underrepresented backgrounds and actively contributes to open-source software development, making planetary science more accessible.
As a 51 Pegasi b Fellow, Mukherjee will continue his research at Arizona State University (ASU) beginning in September 2025. His work arrives at a crucial time, as hundreds of hours of JWST data focus on sub-Neptunes, and a new generation of Extremely Large Telescopes promise deeper insights into these enigmatic planets. Through his innovative models, Mukherjee hopes to reduce uncertainties and unravel the formation stories of the galaxy’s most abundant yet least understood planets.
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