Alejandro S. Borlaff

Affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center

Email: a.s.borlaff@nasa.gov

Professional Biography

I studied physics (B.S.) and astrophysics (M.S.) in Madrid (Spain), and then I moved to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias to complete my PhD studies (2014-2018). During my PhD I became part of the support and operations team of the GHaFaS Fabry-Pérot integral field spectrograph at the William Herschel Telescope (La Palma Island, Roque de Los Muchachos observatory).

In 2019 I joined the European Space Agency working as a visiting scientist when I was selected as a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ames Research Center, in California. Since then, I have participated in the development of the ESA/Euclid and ARRAKIHS Space Telescope missions, and I started my experience as airborne astronomer exploring the magnetic field of external galaxies with the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).

In 2022 I participated in the last astronaut selection of the European Space Agency, becoming one of the last 25 finalists of 22,500 applicants, completing multiple stages of physical, psychological, and medical evaluation (ESA AstroSel Stage 6/6 completed).

Currently I am a NASA/BAERI Researcher dedicated to improve the sky-background calibration of Hubble Space Telescope (Hubble Archival Project STRAYCOR, Cycle 30: ID17041) and the future Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (NASA Roman Space Telescope Research and Support Participation opportunities 2022), the detection of extended soft-band X-ray hot gas halos in outer regions of galaxies (NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis grant 2022, and Chandra Archival Research ID24610329). I am part of the Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) at Stanford University, and the lead coordinator of the ESA/F-class ARRAKIHS working package for the simulation of in-orbit optical and near-infrared observations.

Education

Physics 5-year degree – Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain (2008-2013).

Master´s degree in Astrophysics –  Complutense de Madrid, Spain (2013-2014)

PhD in Astrophysics – Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (Canary Islands, Spain, 2014-2018)

Research Interests

My main interests are the development of mission dedicated to space exploration – including astrophysics missions, but not restricted to- the calibration of imaging detectors in-orbit, and human space exploration. Among my scientific interests I also include the evolution of galaxies, the exploration of the darkest regions of the Universe (ultra-low surface brightness Universe) and the galactic magnetic fields.

Select Publications

Extragalactic magnetism with SOFIA (SALSA Legacy Program) — V: First results on the magnetic field orientation of galaxies – A. S. Borlaff et al. 2023 (The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 952, Issue 1, id.4, 24 pp.)

Euclid preparation. XVI. Exploring the ultra-low surface brightness Universe with Euclid/VIS (Euclid Key Project Publication) – Euclid Collaboration, A. S. Borlaff et al. 2022 (Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 657, id.A92, 21 pp.)

The missing light of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field – A. S. Borlaff et al. 2019 (Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 621, id.A133, 34 pp)

Formation of S0 galaxies through mergers. Antitruncated stellar discs resulting from major mergers – A. S. Borlaff et al. 2014 (Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 570, id.A103, 30 pp.)

Select Accepted Proposals

ROSES/Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Research and Support Participation Opportunities (D.14 Roman 2022) NASA Grant –  NASA [07/2023]

• Proposal title: – ROSALIA: Roman Sky Analyst for Low surface brightness Imaging & Astronomy
• Sci-PI: Alejandro S. Borlaff (NASA ARC). Admin-PI: Pamela M. Marcum (NASA ARC)
• Award: $1,444,806.00 over a period of four years.

ROSES/Astrophysics Data Analysis (ADAP) NASA Grant –  NASA [01/2023]

• Proposal title: – The Extended Hot Gas Halos of Galaxies
• Sci-PI: Alejandro S. Borlaff (NASA ARC). Admin-PI: Pamela M. Marcum (NASA ARC)
• Award: $995,416 over a period of three years.

Hubble Space Telescope Archival Research project – Cycle 30 award – Space Telescope Science Institute [06/2022]

• Proposal title: STRAYCOR: Stray-light background correction for HST ACS and WFC3
• Sci-PI: Alejandro S. Borlaff (NASA ARC). Admin-PI: Pamela M. Marcum (NASA ARC)
• Award: $361,301 over a period of two years.

Chandra X-ray Observatory Archival research project: Cycle 24 award – Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics [08/2022]

• Proposal title: Exploring the Origin of Lenticular Galaxies with Chandra/ACIS
• Sci-PI: Alejandro S. Borlaff (NASA ARC). Admin-PI: Pamela M. Marcum (NASA ARC)
• Award: $215,800 over a period of one year.

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy Cycle 9 – Observing proposal SOFIA [12/2020] – Project: ID:09_0113

• Proposal title: ”Testing for multi-component magnetic fields andtheir effects on the structure of galactic disks”
• PI: A. S. Borlaff
• Award: $201,000 grant + 20.1h of observing time with SOFIA/HAWC+

Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array – Cycle 21A Observing proposal – National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) [11/2020]

• Project: VLA/21A-043 ”Flares, breaks and warps in the outskirts of the HI and stellar disk of UGC11859″
• Role: Principal Investigator
• Award: 11.49h, HI 21cm observations, VLA C-array configuration

Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array – Director’s Discretionary Time Observing proposal- National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) [ 28/04/2020 ]

• Project: VLA/20A-485 ”Flares, warps and breaks in the outskirts of the HI and stellar disk of UGC11859”
• Role: Principal Investigator
• Award: 9h, HI 21cm observations, VLA C-array configuration

NASA Missions

Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, Euclid Space Telescope.

Awards & Others

Astronaut Selection – European Space Agency class 2022

• Finalist of the 2022 Astronaut Selection of the European Space Agency @ESA (Top 25 of 22,500 applicants, Stage 6/6 completed).

NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship Award – NASA / USRA [06/2019]

• Alejandro S. Borlaff (NASA ARC). Mentor: Pamela M. Marcum (NASA ARC)
• Award: $73.866 per yr for a period of 3 years.

Juan de la Cierva Postdoctoral Fellowship Award – Spanish ministry for research and education [08/2019]

• Postdoctoral fellowship awarded by the Ministry for Research and Education – Government of Spain (awarded, declined)