Dr Anjali A.A. Piette MSci, PhD, FRAS

Dr Anjali A. A. Piette

School of Physics and Astronomy
Assistant Professor in Astronomy

Contact details

Address
Physics West
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Anjali is an Assistant Professor in Astronomy. Her research aims to uncover the diversity of planetary physics among the exoplanet population. Thousands of exoplanets have been discovered in the past three decades, encompassing a staggering range of conditions - from lava worlds to temperate mini-Neptunes and hot, giant planets. Anjali uncovers new insights into these distant worlds by using their atmospheres as windows into their climates, compositions and formation mechanisms. She places empirical constraints on these planets using theoretical models and atmospheric observations from telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope.

Please seeAnjali’s personal webpage for more information.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Astronomy, University of Cambridge, 2021
  • MSci in Natural Sciences (Astrophysics), University of Cambridge, 2017
  • BA in Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge, 2016

Biography

Anjali pursued her undergraduate studies in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, ultimately specialising in Astrophysics. She continued her studies at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, obtaining her PhD in 2021. During her PhD, Anjali studied the atmospheres of exoplanets across the mass range, from isolated brown dwarfs to hot Jupiters, mini-Neptunes and rocky planets. Following this, she took up a Carnegie Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Carnegie Institution for Science, Earth and Planets Laboratory in Washington, DC, before moving to the University of Birmingham as an Assistant Professor in 2024.

Anjali continues to study exoplanets across the diverse parameter space they cover, including lava worlds and giant exoplanets orbiting the smallest stars. She uses a combination of forward and inverse modelling methods to study the complex interplay of processes in exoplanet atmospheres and interpret telescope observations, for example with the James Webb Space Telescope.

Teaching

  • Y1 Physics Tutorials
  • Y4 Project Supervision

Postgraduate supervision

PhD supervision in exoplanets and their atmospheres.

Research

  • Exoplanet atmospheres
  • Exoplanet atmosphere-interior interactions
  • Rocky exoplanets
  • Sub-Neptune exoplanets
  • Giant exoplanets
  • Radiative-convective atmospheric modelling
  • Atmospheric retrievals

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Teske, JK, Wallack, NL, Piette, AAA, Dang, L, Lichtenberg, T, Plotnykov, M, Pierrehumbert, RT, Postolec, E, Boucher, S, McGinty, A, Peng, B, Valencia, D & Hammond, M 2025, 'A Thick Volatile Atmosphere on the Ultra-Hot Super-Earth TOI-561 b', Astrophysical Journal Letters. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2509.17231

Malsky, I, Rauscher, E, Stevenson, K, Savel, AB, Steinrueck, ME, Gao, P, Kempton, EMR, Roman, MT, Bean, JL, Zhang, M, Parmentier, V, Piette, AAA & Kataria, T 2025, 'Clouds and Hazes in GJ 1214 b’s Metal-rich Atmosphere', Astronomical Journal, vol. 169, no. 4, 221. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/adb7e8

Challener, RC, Weiner Mansfield, M, Cubillos, PE, Piette, AAA, Coulombe, LP, Beltz, H, Blecic, J, Rauscher, E, Bean, JL, Benneke, B, Kempton, EMR, Harrington, J, Komacek, TD, Parmentier, V, Casewell, SL, Iro, N, Mancini, L, Nixon, MC, Radica, M, Steinrueck, ME, Welbanks, L, Batalha, NM, Caceres, C, Crossfield, IJM, Crouzet, N, Désert, JM, Molaverdikhani, K, Nikolov, NK, Palle, E, Rackham, BV, Schlawin, E, Sing, DK, Stevenson, KB, Tan, X, Turner, JD & Zhang, X 2025, 'Horizontal and vertical exoplanet thermal structure from a JWST spectroscopic eclipse map', Nature Astronomy. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02666-9

Madhusudhan, N, Constantinou, S, Holmberg, M, Sarkar, S, Piette, AAA & Moses, JI 2025, 'New Constraints on DMS and DMDS in the Atmosphere of K2-18 b from JWST MIRI', Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 983, no. 2, L40. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adc1c8

Evans-Soma, TM, Sing, DK, Barstow, JK, Piette, AAA, Taylor, J, Lothringer, JD, Reggiani, H, Goyal, JM, Ahrer, EM, Mayne, NJ, Rustamkulov, Z, Kataria, T, Christie, DA, Gapp, C, Dong, J, Foreman-Mackey, D, Hattori, S & Marley, MS 2025, 'SiO and a super-stellar C/O ratio in the atmosphere of the giant exoplanet WASP-121 b', Nature Astronomy, vol. 9, no. 6, pp. 845-861. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02513-x

Steinrueck, ME, Parmentier, V, Kreidberg, L, Gao, P, Kempton, EMR, Zhang, M, Stevenson, KB, Malsky, I, Roman, MT, Rauscher, E, Malik, M, Lupu, R, Kataria, T, Piette, AAA, Bean, JL & Nixon, MC 2025, 'The Radiative Effects of Photochemical Hazes on the Atmospheric Circulation and Phase Curves of Sub-Neptunes', Astrophysical Journal, vol. 985, no. 1, 98. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc99a

Scott, MG, Triaud, AHMJ, Barkaoui, K, Sebastian, D, Burgasser, AJ, Collins, KA, Dransfield, G, Hellier, C, Howell, SB, Piette, AAA, Rackham, BV, Stassun, KG, Stockholm, A, Timmermans, M, Watkins, CN, Fausnaugh, M, Fukui, A, Jenkins, JM, Narita, N, Ricker, G, Softich, E, Schwarz, RP, Seager, S, Shporer, A, Theissen, C, Twicken, JD, Winn, JN & Watanabe, D 2025, 'TOI-6478 b: a cold under-dense Neptune transiting a fully convective M dwarf from the thick disc', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2504.06848, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf684

Nixon, MC, Piette, A, Kempton, EMR, Gao, P, Bean, JL, Steinrueck, ME, Mahajan, AS, Eastman, JD, Zhang, M & Rogers, LA 2024, 'New Insights into the Internal Structure of GJ 1214 b Informed by JWST', The Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 970, no. 2, L28. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad615b

Yang, J, Hammond, M, Piette, AAA, Blecic, J, Bell, TJ, Irwin, PGJ, Parmentier, V, Tsai, S-M, Barstow, JK, Crouzet, N, Kreidberg, L, Mendonça, JM, Taylor, J, Baeyens, R, Ohno, K, Teinturier, L & Nixon, MC 2024, 'Simultaneous retrieval of orbital phase resolved JWST/MIRI emission spectra of the hot Jupiter WASP-43b: evidence of water, ammonia and carbon monoxide', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 532, no. 1, pp. 460-475. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae1427

Powell, D, Feinstein, AD, Lee, EKH, Zhang, M, Tsai, S-M, Taylor, J, Kirk, J, Bell, T, Barstow, JK, Gao, P, Bean, JL, Blecic, J, Chubb, KL, Crossfield, IJM, Jordan, S, Kitzmann, D, Moran, SE, Morello, G, Moses, JI, Welbanks, L, Yang, J, Zhang, X, Ahrer, E-M, Bello-Arufe, A, Brande, J, Casewell, SL, Crouzet, N, Cubillos, PE, Demory, B-O, Dyrek, A, Flagg, L, Hu, R, Inglis, J, Jones, KD, Kreidberg, L, López-Morales, M, Lagage, P-O, Meier Valdés, EA, Miguel, Y, Parmentier, V, Piette, AAA, Rackham, BV, Radica, M, Redfield, S, Stevenson, KB, Wakeford, HR, Aggarwal, K, Alam, MK, Batalha, NM, Batalha, NE, Benneke, B, Berta-Thompson, ZK, Brady, RP, Caceres, C, Carter, AL, Désert, J-M, Harrington, J, Iro, N, Line, MR, Lothringer, JD, MacDonald, RJ, Mancini, L, Molaverdikhani, K, Mukherjee, S, Nixon, MC, Oza, AV, Palle, E, Rustamkulov, Z, Sing, DK, Steinrueck, ME, Venot, O, Wheatley, PJ & Yurchenko, SN 2024, 'Sulfur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b', Nature, vol. 626, no. 8001, pp. 979-983. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07040-9

Coulombe, L-P, Benneke, B, Challener, R, Piette, AAA, Wiser, LS, Mansfield, M, MacDonald, RJ, Beltz, H, Feinstein, AD, Radica, M, Savel, AB, Dos Santos, LA, Bean, JL, Parmentier, V, Wong, I, Rauscher, E, Komacek, TD, Kempton, EM-R, Tan, X, Hammond, M, Lewis, NT, Line, MR, Lee, EKH, Shivkumar, H, Crossfield, IJM, Nixon, MC, Rackham, BV, Wakeford, HR, Welbanks, L, Zhang, X, Batalha, NM, Berta-Thompson, ZK, Changeat, Q, Désert, J-M, Espinoza, N, Goyal, JM, Harrington, J, Knutson, HA, Kreidberg, L, López-Morales, M, Shporer, A, Sing, DK, Stevenson, KB, Aggarwal, K, Ahrer, E-M, Alam, MK, Bell, TJ, Blecic, J, Caceres, C, Carter, AL, Casewell, SL, Crouzet, N, Cubillos, PE, Decin, L, Fortney, JJ, Gibson, NP, Heng, K, Henning, T, Iro, N, Kendrew, S, Lagage, P-O, Leconte, J, Lendl, M, Lothringer, JD, Mancini, L, Mikal-Evans, T, Molaverdikhani, K, Nikolov, NK, Ohno, K, Palle, E, Piaulet, C, Redfield, S, Roy, P-A, Tsai, S-M, Venot, O & Wheatley, PJ 2023, 'A broadband thermal emission spectrum of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-18b', Nature, vol. 620, no. 7973, pp. 292–298. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06230-1

Kempton, EM-R, Zhang, M, Bean, JL, Steinrueck, ME, Piette, AAA, Parmentier, V, Malsky, I, Roman, MT, Rauscher, E, Gao, P, Bell, TJ, Xue, Q, Taylor, J, Savel, AB, Arnold, KE, Nixon, MC, Stevenson, KB, Mansfield, M, Kendrew, S, Zieba, S, Ducrot, E, Dyrek, A, Lagage, P-O, Stassun, KG, Henry, GW, Barman, T, Lupu, R, Malik, M, Kataria, T, Ih, J, Fu, G, Welbanks, L & McGill, P 2023, 'A reflective, metal-rich atmosphere for GJ 1214b from its JWST phase curve', Nature, vol. 620, pp. 67–71. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06159-5

Preprint

Zhang, M, Beleznay, M, Brandt, TD, Romani, RW, Gao, P, Beltz, H, Bailes, M, Nixon, MC, Bean, JL, Komacek, TD, Coy, BP, Fu, G, Luque, R, Reardon, DJ, Carli, E, Shannon, RM, Fortney, JJ, Piette, AAA, Miller, MC & Desert, J-M 2025 'A carbon-rich atmosphere on a windy pulsar planet' arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2509.04558

Nixon, MC, Somers, RS, Savel, AB, Ih, J, Kempton, EM-R, Young, ED, Schlichting, HE, Lichtenberg, T, Welbanks, L, Misener, W, Piette, AAA & Wogan, NF 2025 'Magma ocean interactions can explain JWST observations of the sub-Neptune TOI-270 d' arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2510.07367

Bell, TJ, Crouzet, N, Cubillos, PE, Kreidberg, L, Piette, AAA, Roman, MT, Barstow, JK, Blecic, J, Carone, L, Coulombe, L-P, Ducrot, E, Hammond, M, Mendonça, JM, Moses, JI, Parmentier, V, Stevenson, KB, Teinturier, L, Zhang, M, Batalha, NM, Bean, JL, Benneke, B, Charnay, B, Chubb, KL, Demory, B-O, Gao, P, Lee, EKH, López-Morales, M, Morello, G, Rauscher, E, Sing, DK, Tan, X, Venot, O, Wakeford, HR, Aggarwal, K, Ahrer, E-M, Alam, MK, Baeyens, R, Barrado, D, Caceres, C, Carter, AL, Casewell, SL, Challener, RC, Crossfield, IJM, Decin, L, Désert, J-M, Dobbs-Dixon, I, Dyrek, A, Espinoza, N, Feinstein, AD, Gibson, NP, Harrington, J, Helling, C, Hu, R, Iro, N, Kempton, EM-R, Kendrew, S, Komacek, TD, Krick, J, Lagage, P-O, Leconte, J, Lendl, M, Lewis, NT, Lothringer, JD, Malsky, I, Mancini, L, Mansfield, M, Mayne, NJ, Mikal-Evans, T, Molaverdikhani, K, Nikolov, NK, Nixon, MC, Palle, E, Roche, DJMPDDL, Piaulet, C, Powell, D, Rackham, BV, Schneider, AD, Steinrueck, ME, Taylor, J, Welbanks, L, Yurchenko, SN, Zhang, X & Zieba, S 2024 'Nightside clouds and disequilibrium chemistry on the hot Jupiter WASP-43b' Nature Research. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02230-x, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2401.13027

View all publications in research portal

Expertise


  • Exoplanets and their atmospheres

Languages and other information

Fluent in English and French.

Media experience


  • BBC/PBS Documentary – “Nova Universe Revealed: Alien Worlds”
  • PBS Documentary – “Great American Eclipse”
  • YouTube Series – “The Making of a Physicist”