ZTF Faces

Luke Harvey

PhD student at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Where was your starting point and how did you discover astronomy?

I was born in High Wycombe and raised in a small village called Chinnor at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Oxfordshire. Unlike many astronomers, I never had a telescope as a kid, nor did I show much interest in having one. My interest in space was instead jump-started by my love of everything Star Wars – in fact a stormtrooper helmet sits next to me on my desk as I type. In terms of my path to studying astronomy, this rather formed from my love of mathematics; I’ve always felt drawn to the field as it paired the puzzle of mathematics with the awe of the great unknown. I attended Lord Williams’s School for my GCSEs and A Levels before jumping the channel to Ireland for my undergraduate in Physics and Astrophysics at Trinity College Dublin. I’m lucky enough to have an Irish passport – thank you Mam – so I faced no issues with the whole Brexit situation which started unfolding just as I left the UK.

How did you discover ZTF?

For my undergraduate thesis project in 2019 I worked with Dr Ivo Seitenzahl in UNSW Canberra to develop a 3D model of a supernova remnant in the nearby Small Magellanic Cloud. This ignited my passion for supernovae (pun fully intended) which I followed up with an application for a PhD position with Dr Kate Maguire here in Dublin, bringing me into the fold with ZTF.

What are you playing with in the ZTF playground?

Along with the other members of the Dublin group I am interested in the peculiar thermonuclear subclasses, and what differentiates them from the normal SNe Ia population from a physics standpoint. Specifically, I work with the spectral synthesis code TARDIS to model the spectral series of these weird objects in the hopes of uncovering clues to their progenitor systems and explosion mechanisms. I recently submitted a paper on the modelling of the sub-luminous transitional supernova SN 2021rhu in which we concluded the object to likely come from a low energy delayed detonation.

Where do you want to steer your rocket in the future?

My future career aspirations remain a mystery for the time being. I’m constantly jumping between different paths in my head; however, I love the journey that is research and the further I dive into my PhD the more I find myself pulled towards applying for Postdoctoral research positions.

If you were not an astronomer, what would you be?

What would I be if not an astronomer? In the interest of being completely honest, astronomy was not my first choice for a career. When I was a child, all I wanted to be was a Power Ranger. My parents however sat me down and explained that it would probably be good to have a back-up plan. I therefore decided that Plan B – in the off chance the whole “fighting the forces of evil” thing wouldn’t work out – was going to be a career in professional football playing for England. With their likely dwindling patience, they suggested I think of a Plan C, just as a last resort. I suggested astronaut. I don’t think I ever really let go of Plan C, however it morphed more into what I find myself doing today.

A book that shook your worldview?

I must admit, nothing specific jumps out of me as a book that shook my worldview, however when turning to movies there is one in particular that coloured the way I see the world today. The Studio Ghibli classic Princess Mononoke recounts the travels of a young Prince through 14th Century Japan as he attempts to find a cure to an infection taking over his body. Through its beautiful animation style and the expertly crafted score, Princess Mononoke stands as an analogy for the relationship between humankind and the nature around us. Year on year the film’s message grows more important, warning us against destroying the very thing that gave us life.

If you’ve had a bad day at work, you will….

Regardless of the quality of my day at work, in the evenings I can typically always be found in the local climbing gym. I started climbing when I moved to Dublin back in 2016 and haven’t looked back since. I find that it is such an attractive sport to people in STEM due to the problem-solving nature at its core. I’ve been lucky enough to travel all around Europe for climbing and I don’t see myself letting go any time soon.