Welcome!
This is the website for Prof. Jacob Bean's group in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. The main theme of the group's research is the observational study of planets outside the solar system ("exoplanets"). We use ground- and space-based telescopes to detect and characterize these worlds. We are also building new instruments as part of our push towards identifying other Earth-like planets.
Prospective graduate students: I am always open to taking on new students who are interested in exoplanet studies and/or instrumentation. You are encouraged to apply to U. Chicago for grad school if you are interested in these topics. Admissions are made at the department level, rather than by individual faculty. If you are admitted then we can talk in detail about the opportunities here. Unfortunately, I do not respond to email inquiries about available research projets due to the volume of such requests. Please do not take this as a lack of interest on my part!
03/11/2025:
We are excited to announce the discovery of four sub-Earth size planets orbiting Barnard's Star. See the 
03/11/2025:
Congratulations to U. Chicago exoplanet group postdocs Michael Zhang, Caroline Piaulet-Ghorayeb, Rafa Luque, Michael Radica, and Maria Steinrueck for winning five 
09/11/2024:
Congratulations to Rafa Luque for winning an ERC starting grant for his THIRSTEE project! Rafa will start a faculty position at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) in Granada, Spain, in August 2025. See this 
