About Me
Hello! I am Rhys Seeburger, also known as Luzian, and I am an IMPRS PhD Student at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, in the group of Hans-Walter Rix. I previously completed my MPhys in Astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2021. My current work focuses on the detection and eventual characterisation of dark objects (such as non-accreting black holes) in the Milky Way Galaxy. As such, I (plan to) use spectroscopic, astrometric and photometric data to comprehensively search our home galaxy for these fascinating objects. Our goal is to learn more about the final stages of stellar evolution, especially for stars in multiple systems.
I care a lot about Astronomy as a diverse and inclusive discipline, and as such am very engaged in Outreach and Activism. If you have ideas on how we can make the field more accessible, or even just tell the public about what we do, and want to collaborate, feel free to drop an Email.
Interests
- Binary stars & Stellar evolution
- Spectroscopy
- Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
- Outreach and Teaching
Skills
- Python (Intermediate), Julia, Bash, C++, ADQL (Beginner)
- Matplotlib, Pandas, Numpy, Scipy, Scikit-learn, PyTorch
- VSCode, git, conda, WSL, Docker
Research
- All
- PhD
- UGrad
Recent Publications
ADS Search
Arxiv Search
| h-index: 3 | |
|---|---|
| 7 | refereed publications |
| 0 | publications from large collaborations |
| 0 | other publications |
| 173 | citations (from non-collaboration papers) |
View all publications
Showing 5 most recent non-collaboration articles from ADS
2024
- "Autonomous Disentangling for Spectroscopic Surveys"
Seeburger, R., Rix, H.-W., El-Badry, K., Xiang, M., Fouesneau, M., 2024, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, - [0 citations]
2024MNRAS.tmp..996S - "The Age Distribution of Stellar Orbit Space Clumps"
Fürnkranz, V., Rix, H.-W., Coronado, J., Seeburger, R., 2024, The Astrophysical Journal, 113 [0 citations]
2024ApJ...961..113F - "A red giant orbiting a black hole"
El-Badry, K., Rix, H.-W., Cendes, Y., Rodriguez, A. C., Conroy, C., Quataert, E., Hawkins, K., Zari, E., Hobson, M., Breivik, K., Rau, A., Berger, E., Shahaf, S., Seeburger, R., Burdge, K. B., Latham, D. W., Buchhave, L. A., Bieryla, A., Bashi, D., Mazeh, T., Faigler, S., 2023, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 4323 [55 citations]
2023MNRAS.521.4323E
2023
- "Linking Methanogenesis in Low-Temperature Hydrothermal Vent Systems to Planetary Spectra: Methane Biosignatures on an Archean-Earth-like Exoplanet"
Seeburger, R., Higgins, P. M., Whiteford, N. P., Cockell, C. S., 2023, Astrobiology, 415 [0 citations]
2023AsBio..23..415S - "A Sun-like star orbiting a black hole"
El-Badry, K., Rix, H.-W., Quataert, E., Howard, A. W., Isaacson, H., Fuller, J., Hawkins, K., Breivik, K., Wong, K. W. K., Rodriguez, A. C., Conroy, C., Shahaf, S., Mazeh, T., Arenou, F., Burdge, K. B., Bashi, D., Faigler, S., Weisz, D. R., Seeburger, R., Almada Monter, S., Wojno, J., 2023, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1057 [79 citations]
2023MNRAS.518.1057E
Talks
Scientific
July 12th 2023
Taking Spectral Disentangling to the Industrial Scale
EAS 2023, Krakow, Poland
March 1st, 2023
Hunting for Dark Companions
The Time Domain in the Era of Astronomical Big Data, WISE Observatory, Mitzpe Ramon, Israel
Nov 30th, 2022
Finding Black Holes that are actually Black
Galaxy Coffee, Max Planck institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
Nov 18th, 2022
Any Star could be a Binary
The Impact of Binaries on Stellar Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Germany
May 12th, 2022
Disentangling Composite Spectra
IMPRS Seminar, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
July 14th 2023
You Can't Be What You Can't See
EAS 2023, Krakow, Poland
May 17th, 2023
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia 2023
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
May 9th, 2023
LGBTQIA+ in Astronomy
GC Retreat, Schöntal, Germany
Feb 18th, 2023
LGBT+ Astronomy Icons
OUTer Space, Haus der Astronomie, Heidelberg, Germany
Sept 10th, 2022
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Astronomy
IMPRS Retreat, Salzburg, Austria
Resume
Education
2021 - present
PhD Candidate in Astronomy
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
PhD project supervised by Hans-Walter Rix (MPIA) and Kareem El-Badry (CfA - Harvard Smithonian) on finding compact objects in binary systems in the Milky Way.
Python, Binary Stars, Compact Objects, Spectroscopy
2021
MPhys degree in Astrophysics
University of Edinburgh, UK
MPhys project with Catherine Heymans and Benjamin Giblin, using Convolutional Neural Networks to infer cosmological parameters from weak lensing shear maps.
Python, Cosmology, Weak Lensing, Machine Learning
2016
Matura, Sacre Coeur Wien
Vienna, Austria
High school diploma from Sacre Coeur Wien, Vienna, Austria. Graduated with 1.0 average (highest possible grade) in English, German, Mathematics, Physics and Informatics. Prescientific paper on the topic of "The Double Slit Experiment - Modern Quantum Physics" with a grade of 1.0.
Outreach Experience
Jun 2023
Explore Science Volunteer
Explore Science, Herzogenriedpark, Mannheim
Volunteering at the Explore Science event in Mannheim, Germany. I helped run the combined Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, and Haus der Astronomie stand, where we had a variety of hands-on activities for secondary school students.
2022 - present
Outreach Fellow
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy & Haus der Astronomie, Heidelberg, Germany
Conducting public outreach tours at the Haus der Astronomie, as well as supporting the staff at Haus der Astronomie with their outreach events.
Feb 2023
Organiser, OUTer Space
Haus der Astronomie, Heidelberg, Germany
Outreach event for LGBT+ people and allies, consisting of a planetarium show, tours of the telescopes, the stellar model, as well as talks from LGBT+ Scientists and Allies and a Q&A Panel.
Oct 2022
Visiting Scientist, Tag der Naturwissenschaften
Experimenta Science Center, Heilbronn, Germany
Large scale outreach event for the general public at the Experimenta Science Center in Heilbronn, Germany. I was interviewed about my studies and work as an Astronomer, answering questions from attending high school students.
Apr 2018
Science Communicator, Edinburgh Science Festival
Edinburgh, UK
Two-week long science communication event in Edinburgh, UK. I was responsible for explaining the science behind a variety of exhibits to the general public, primarily aimed at families with children.
