What is your position or role in the DESI project?
I am one of the early career scientists using the data from DESI and other telescopes to derive interesting results about our Universe!
Where were you born?
Santiago, Chile
Where do you live now?
California, USA
What do you do as part of DESI?
I am currently leading one of the kinematic Sunyaev Zel’dovich measurements using DESI galaxies and the Cosmic Microwave Background map from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope.
Galaxies have a gaseous halo surrounding them, which is challenging to observe. Creative and prolific scientists like Rashid Sunyaev and Yakov B. Zeldovich suggested that it is possible to see it by studying the effect this produces in a background light. There is a perfect candidate to be this background, which is the Cosmic Microwave Background. This is a relic and smooth source of light at microwave frequencies, emitted when the Universe was 380,000 years old! A way of visualizing this effect is to think of galaxies as part of a shadow theater, where the Cosmic Microwave Background illuminates the scenario from the back. There is an additional thing to mention: if these galaxies were steady, this effect would not be as powerful as it could be. Luckily, galaxies have what we call “peculiar velocities”, meaning they move on top of the expansion of the Universe. When combining the velocities of galaxies and the Cosmic Microwave Background, we can study the gas of galaxies. This is the kinematic Sunyaev Zel’dovich effect!
What is the most interesting or exciting thing about your job?
What I found extremely interesting from my job as a graduate student is that my meetings are about discussing fundamental physics and ideas of the Universe, as I always dreamed of.
Any advice for an aspiring scientist?
To aspiring scientists I would recommend them to learn English as much as they can in their earlier careers. As a non-native speaker I have been on multiple occasions in which I do not understand what people are asking/answering. I also want to tell them it is okay to ask if something is not clear!
What do you do for fun?
I like taking analog pictures and developing them in a darkroom. I also love doing scientific outreach and using social media to spread scientific knowledge.
If you weren’t a scientist, what would be your dream job?
I would have loved to be an actress or a philosopher.
What excites/interests you most about DESI?
It is incredible to think how many galaxies it has detected in such a short time! The first results are already astonishing. I am so impressed we can see so deep into the past of our Universe just by looking from Earth.
