Christina Kay
Boston University
Department of Astronomy
725 Commonwealth Ave, CAS 412
Boston, MA 02215
Phone: (951) 941-5772
E-mail: ckay@bu.edu
Website: http://people.bu.edu/ckay
Education
• Graduate student at Boston University, Department of Astrophysics (Fall
2010-present)
• Masters received Sept. 2012
• Undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley (Fall 2005-2009)
◦ A.B. in Physics and Astronomy
Research
• Currently researching:
◦ Developing ForeCAT- an analytic model for CME deflection based on the
forces of magnetic tension and magnetic pressure gradients (Boston
University, July 2012-present)
• Deflection of coronal mass ejections near coronal holes using the Space
Weather Modeling Framework (Boston University, January 2011-2012)
• Used several online databases to calculate the colors of Galactic open
clusters to looks for effects of stochastic sampling in the initial mass
function (University of California, Riverside, May 2009-July 2010)
• Worked to maintain and improve the Universe Adventure website
(University of California, Berkeley, Spring 2007)
Teaching
• AS202-- an introductory course for students that intended to major in
Astronomy (Boston University, Fall 2010). Tasks included leading a lab
section as well as instructing students in the use of a telescope.
Publications
• Kay, C., dos Santos. L. F. G., Opher, M.: “Constraining the Masses and
Non-radial Drag Coefficient of a Solar CME” 2015, ApJL, 801, 2, L21
• Kay, C., Opher, M., Evans, R. M.: “Global Trends of CME Deflection Based on
CME and Solar Parameters” 2015, ApJ, 805, 2, 168
• Kay, C., Opher, M, Evans, R. M.: “Forecasting a Coronal Mass Ejection's
Altered Trajectory: ForeCAT”, 2013, ApJ, 775, 5
Membership
•
American Geophysical Union (AGU) – Student Member (2011-present)
•
American Astronomical Society (AAS) - Junior Member (Fall 2010-2011,
2014-present)
Conferences/Workshops
Talks
• COSPAR 2014, Moscow
◦ Talk - “Do All CMEs Deflect to the Magnetic Minimum by 4 Rs?”
▪ M. Opher presenting author
• SHINE 2014, Colorado
◦ Contributed to session: “When and why does space weather forecasting
fail?”
◦ Student Day Talk - “Do all CMEs Deflect to the Magnetic Minimum by 4
Rs?”
▪ Winner – Best Student Day Research Presentation
• 224th AAS 2014, Boston
◦ “Do all CMEs Deflect to the Magnetic Minimum by 4 Rs?”
• Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Exoplanet Lunch Talk – May
2014
◦ “Implications of CME Deflection on the Habitability of Planets Around M
Dwarfs”
• New England Space Science Consortium – April 2014 at Boston College
◦ 'Implications of CME Deflection on the Fraction of ICMEs Observed with
Magnetic Clouds'
• SHINE 2013, Georgia
◦ Student Day Talk - “Predicting CME Deflections Using ForeCAT”
• AGU 2012, San Francisco
◦ Talk-”CME Deflection Predictions Using ForeCAT”
◦ Video On Demand Session: Talk available at
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=graqDk80gwg&feature=youtu.be&t=18
m27s
• New England Space Science Consortium – October 2012 at University of
New Hampshire
◦ Talk - “Analytic Theory of CME Deflection”
• Solar Heliospheric and Interplanetary Environment (SHINE) Maui 2012
◦ Presented results in session Interactions of CMEs with Coronal and
Heliospheric Structures
• SHINE 2011, Colorado
◦ Student Tutorial on coronal mass ejections
Posters
• AGU 2014, San Francisco
◦ Poster - “ForeCAT: Using CME Deflections to Constrain their Mass and the
Drag”
• SHINE 2014, Colorado
◦ Poster - “Do all CMEs Deflect to the Magnetic Minimum by 4 Rs?”
• 224th AAS 2014, Boston
◦ Implications of CME Deflection on the Habitability of Planets Around M
Dwarfs”
• AGU 2013, San Francisco
◦ Poster - “Can We Predict CME Deflections Based on Solar Magnetic Field
Configuration Alone”
• SHINE 2013, Georgia
◦ Poster - “Predicting CME Deflections Using ForeCAT”
• SHINE 2012, Maui
◦ Poster – “Magnetic Drivers of CME Deflection in the Low Corona”
• AGU 2011, San Francisco
◦ Poster - “Coronal Mass Ejection Deflection in the Low Corona”
◦ Travel Grant Awardee
• SHINE Snowmass, Colorado 2011
◦ Poster - “Simulation of a CME near a Coronal Hole”
• 215th AAS Meeting, Washington D.C. January 2010-- “Stochastic Sampling in
the IMF of Galactic Open Clusters”
Other
• Heliophysics Summer School 2011, Boulder, CO
Leadership
• Shine Student Representative (2015-present)