Biography
I am a second year graduate student and NSF Research Fellow pursuing a Ph.D. in Astrophysics at the California Institute of Technology. I graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Astronomy (Honors) and a B.S. in Physics from The University of Texas at Austin in May 2023 and earned a M.S. in Astrophysics from Caltech in June 2025. Advised by Prof. Dimitri Mawet, I work as a part of Caltech's Exoplanet Technology Laboratory (ET Lab) to use novel ground- and space-based high-contrast imaging technologies for the direct detection and characterization of planets outside our Solar System. The central motivation behind my research efforts is the question: Are we alone in the Universe? My long-term goal is to become a professor or research scientist in Astrophysics leading high-impact research programs and training the next-generation of astronomers.
Graduate Research
My primary research interest lies in investigating the formation and evolution of Solar System-analog extrasolar gas giant planets using high-contrast imaging and spectroscopy. The most typical giant exoplanets are located at separations between 1-10 au from their host stars. Traditionally, this population has not been accessible to direct characterization techniques either because their corresponding angular separations are too small for detection around young stars located in moving groups (~10-100 pc) or the planets are too cold for near-infrared ground-based observations around mature field stars in our vicinity (within 10 pc). I am tackling both challenges in my work to bridge the exoplanet characterization gap.
From the Ground
In Space
Undergraduate Research
As an undergraduate, I relentlessly pursued original research spanning the mass ladder of astronomical objects — stars, brown dwarfs and planets — to tackle research questions at the forefront of the field from an interdisciplinary perspective. My work led to the discovery and classification of variable stars, the development of novel planet-imaging techniques, the characterization of forming exoplanets, and the calculation of fundamental properties for the largest sample (1000+) of ultracool dwarfs and planetary-mass companions. I have been recognized for my research efforts through numerous awards such as the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the Universities Space Research Association’s Distinguished Undergraduate Award and the American Astronomical Society’s Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Award.
First/Co-First(*) Author Scientific Publications
(11) Worlds Next Door: A Candidate Giant Planet Imaged in the Habitable Zone of Alpha Centauri A. II. Binary Star Modeling, Planet and Exozodi Search, and Sensitivity Analysis
Sanghi, A.*, Beichman, C.*, Mawet, D., et al., 2025, ApJL, 989, L23.
(10) Worlds Next Door: A Candidate Giant Planet Imaged in the Habitable Zone of Alpha Centauri A. I. Observations, Orbital and Physical Properties, and Exozodi Upper Limits
Beichman, C.*, Sanghi, A.*, Mawet, D., et al., 2025, ApJL, 989, L22.
(9) A Preliminary Search for Planets and Exozodiacal Emission Around Alpha Centauri A with JWST/MIRI
Sanghi, A.*, Beichman, C.*, Mawet, D., et al., 2025, RNAAS, 9, 119.
(8) Efficiently Searching for Close-in Companions around Young M Dwarfs Using a Multi-year PSF Library
Sanghi, A., Xuan, J. W., Wang, J. J., et al., 2024, AJ, 168, 218.
(7) Ultracool Dwarf Absolute Magnitude Versus Spectral Type Relations for Euclid and Roman Near-infrared Filters
Sanghi, A., Liu, M. C., Best, W. M. J., et al., 2024, RNAAS, 8, 137.
(6) Ultracool Dwarf Absolute Magnitude Versus Spectral Type Relations for JWST NIRCam Filters
Sanghi, A., Liu, M. C., Best, W. M. J., et al., 2023, RNAAS, 7, 194.
(5) The Hawaii Infrared Parallax Program. VI. The Fundamental Properties of 1000+ Ultracool Dwarfs and Planetary-mass Objects Using Optical to Mid-IR SEDs and Comparison to BT-SETTL and ATMO 2020 Model Atmospheres
Sanghi, A., Liu, M. C., Best, W. M. J., et al., 2023, ApJ, 959, 63.
(4) HST/WFC3 H-alpha Direct-Imaging Detection of a Pointlike Source in the Disk Cavity of AB Aur
Zhou, Y.*, Sanghi, A.*, Bowler, B. P., et al., 2022, ApJL, 934, L13.
(3) Efficiently Imaging Accreting Protoplanets from Space: Reference Star Differential Imaging of the PDS 70 Planetary System using the HST/WFC3 Archival PSF Library
Sanghi, A., Zhou, Y., Bowler, B. P., 2022, AJ, 163, 119.
(2) Identifying Periodic Variable Stars and Eclipsing Binary Systems with Long-Term Las Cumbres Observatory Photometric Monitoring of ZTF J0139+5245
Sanghi, A., Vanderbosch, Z. P., Montgomery, M. H., 2021, AJ, 162, 133.
(1) Visualizing the Complex Roots of Quadratic and Cubic Polynomial Functions in Three Dimensions
Sanghi, A., 2021, The College Mathematics Journal, 52(5), 373-379.