First MAX-DOAS observations of tropospheric NO₂ and H₂CO in Central Africa, impact on air quality and validation of the TROPOMI satellite instrument
Rodriguez YOMBO PHAKA (GIRPAS)

Teams: https://www.sciences.uliege.be/cms/c_12215517/fr/soutenance-de-these-de-rodriguez-yombo-phaka

Deep learning-based focal plane wavefront sensing for exoplanet imaging
Maxime Quesnel (PSILab)

Broadcast: https://www.fsa.uliege.be/cms/c_10939937/fr/fsa-phd-channel

Contribution to the detection of exoplanets transiting nearby stars by the mission TESS
Mourad Ghachoui (EXOTIC)

Zoom visioconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/91243886976?pwd=ek81eEdPQ3NPa2N2OFhYNXc2Vzdydz09

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a NASA space mission launched in 2018 to discover thousands of exoplanets transiting bright stars close to our Solar System. This proximity allows for spectroscopic investigations into the masses and atmospheres of these exoplanets. TESS has observed the entire sky and has produced transit-like signals for over 7,000 exoplanets, referred to as TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs). However, TESS lacks the precision needed to differentiate between signals from genuine transiting exoplanets and those caused by other phenomena, such as eclipsing binaries or blended eclipsing binaries, that can masquerade as transiting planets. During my thesis, I used the robotic TRAPPIST-North telescope located at Oukaïmeden Observatory in Morocco to re-observe these TOIs with higher photometric precision. This is to confirm real transiting planets and eliminate the other astrophysical phenomena. As a result of this work, I participated in the validation and precise characterization of 22 TOIs as genuine exoplanets, leading the discovery papers for three of them: TOI-1680b (Ghachoui et al. 2023), and TOI-6002b and TOI-5713b (Ghachoui et al. 2024), while also investigating for future studies on their masses and atmospheres. Additionally, 27 TOIs were identified as originating from sources other than transiting planets, and the remaining TOIs are still under observation to confirm their origins.

Detection and Characterization of Sub-Neptunes and Giant Planets around Nearby Red Dwarfs
Mathilde Timmermans (EXOTIC)

Avec près de 6000 exoplanètes détectées à ce jour, de nombreuses sous-populations se sont distinguées. Notamment, les sous-Neptunes et les planètes géantes orbitant des naines rouges proches sont très étudiées actuellement. Leurs mécanismes de formation et d’évolution respectifs ne sont pas encore clairs et plusieurs théories ont été avancées. Déterminer quelle théorie est la plus probable nécessite d’avoir un échantillon statistiquement significatif de planètes caractérisées, c’est-à-dire dont les propriétés physiques, orbitales et atmosphériques sont déterminées avec précision. Cet objectif est réalisé notamment grâce à la mission spatiale TESS qui a détecté des milliers de candidats planètes. Les réseaux de télescopes TRAPPIST et SPECULOOS ont permis la validation de centaines d’entre eux. Pour les systèmes les plus intéressants, une caractérisation est également possible en utilisant d’autres instruments tels que le Hubble Space Telescope ou le Very Large Telescope.

Evolution of chromospheric structures observed with USET and implications for the Sun seen as a star
Grégory Vanden Broeck (STAR)

Future projections for agriculture in Belgium from dynamic vegetation modelling
Ingrid Jacquemin (UMCCB)

Application of the WRF-GHG model for the interpretation of ground-based observations of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations
Sieglinde Callewaert (Sphères)

https://www.sciences.uliege.be/cms/c_13283843/fr/soutenance-de-these-de-sieglinde-callewaert