About me

As a Professor in the Astrophysics Group at the University of Exeter, I use leading ground- and space-based observatories with the goal of obtaining direct images and spectroscopy of extrasolar planetary systems. Download a pdf version of my CV here.

JWST

Since late 2015, I have been leading, organising, and managing a team of 120 international astronomers to be among the first users of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and I am the Principal Investigator for our approved 54-hour Early Release Science program which produced some of the first images and spectroscopy of planetary mass companions with JWST. I am also the PI for programs in the first two JWST Cycles here and here with the goal of identifying the planets responsible for sculpting a set of debris disks characterized by ALMA.

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT)

I am also the Lead for the UK Science Team for METIS, one of only two first light instruments for the ELT, and the only one operating in the mid-infrared. The ELT is expected to achieve first-light in 2028-29, with first-light for METIS shortly therafter.

VLTI GRAVITY

I am also an active user of GRAVITY, one of the instruments at the VLT Interferometer. This instrument is returning exquisite astrometry of exoplanet orbits, as well as K-band spectroscopy, and will soon be upgraded to GRAVITY+. Our most recent discovery of a planetary mass companion orbiting on solar system scales, can be found here.

Keck

I have also led one of the largest-ever high-contrast surveys of circumstellar environments using coronagraphy and adaptive optics at the W.M. Keck Observatory. Early discoveries from this survey can be found here and here.

Palomar

During my PhD training, and while a NASA Sagan and an NSF Postdoctoral Prize Fellow at the California Institute of Technology, I was responsible for designing, building, and commissioning an infrared imaging spectrometer for Palomar Observatory that successfully returned low resolution spectroscopy of planetary mass companions.


CV and Publications

Download a pdf version of my CV here.

A link to my google scholar profile can be found here.

A list of my publications via NASA ADS can be found here.

Contact:

email: S.Hinkley AT exeter DOT ac.uk
office: Physics 414
mail: Physics Department
Stocker Road
University of Exeter
Exeter EX4 4QL