Instituto de Física y Astronomía

PhD: University of Warwick, United Kingdom (2015)
Research Area:  White dwarfs, eclipsing binaries, close binaries, cataclysmic variables, eclipse timing variations, SNe type Ia progenitors
Publications: ADS (refereed)
Telephone: (+56 32) 250 8457
email: madelon.bours at uv.cl

About my research: My research focuses on close binaries which contain at least one white dwarf and have orbital periods of a few hours. To determine precise stellar and binary parameters I have done high-precision studies of double white dwarf binaries, using high-speed photometry, phase-resolved spectroscopy and Hubble far-UV spectroscopy. In addition, I am monitoring many eclipsing white dwarf binaries to record any deviations from regularity in the white dwarf eclipse times. These could be due to the presence of planets around these evolved binaries, although with every new observation this scenario seems more unlikely. To understand what is truly causing the observed behaviour, I am trying to learn as much as possible about the white dwarfs and their low-mass main-sequence star companions, as well as how they may interact with each other in close binary configurations