Abigail Frost

Profile

I am a PhD student working with Prof. Rene Oudmaijer with the Astrophysics group. My studeis focus on the circumstellar environments of Massive Young Stellar Objects (MYSOs). By combining high-resolution observations from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and multi-wavelength data from the Red MSX Source (RMS) Survey with 3D radiative transfer models I ascertain the properties of these protostellar environments of MYSOs. The specific VLT instruments I have worked with are the mid-infrared interferometer, MIDI, and the VLT Imager and Spectrometer for the mid-infrared, VISIR. My project was awarded a grant from the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Director General Discretionary Fund, through which I was able to work with collaborator Willem-Jan de Wit at the ESO Santiago office on interferometric data from the VLTI. I have also collaborated with Peter Tuthill and Barnaby Norris at the University of Sydney, where I worked with sparse-aperture masking (SAM) data with the aim of using it to study MYSOs. I am also interested in investigating the properties of massive protostellar disks using interferometry. 

In addition to my main project, I am a demonstrator for the first year undergraduate laboratory modules, a first-aider, and the postgraduate representative for astrophysics.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigail-frost-astro/ 

Research interests

• Star formation
• Protostellar environments including envelopes, discs and outflow cavities
• Interferometry
• Radiative transfer modelling
• Massive young stellar objects
• Sparse aperture masking

Qualifications

• MPhys Physics with Astrophysics (University of Exeter)

Research groups and institutes

• Astrophysics