Research

PhD @ ESO: Spectroscopic study of pre-main-sequence stars and their discs 

Protoplanetary discs are natural outcomes of the star formation process and serve as the birthplaces of planetary systems. Understanding how disc properties evolve, and how they are influenced by the characteristics of their host stars and surrounding environments, is key to uncovering how planets form.

L. Piscarreta, G. Beccari et al. (2025)

In this work, we conducted the first homogeneous VLT/X-Shooter survey aimed at characterizing accretion in pre-main-sequence stars within the Orion Nebula. Despite its high stellar density and intense radiation field (due to the presence of massive stars), we find that the accretion properties in this region are comparable to those observed in less crowded environments such as Lupus and Taurus. We also demonstrate that accretion can significantly affect optical photometry, leading to unreliable estimates of stellar ages and masses. This effect is crucial to understand, as studies that identify young stellar objects solely based on their optical color–magnitude diagram positions risk missing a substantial fraction of strongly accreting sources that fall outside the canonical pre-main-sequence locus.

Research Experience @ ICE-CSIC: Spectra of infant Supernovae

L. Galbany, C. P. Gutiérrez, L. Piscarreta et al. (2025)

Early-time photometry of supernovae (SNe) followed by rapid spectroscopic observations is crucial for a better understanding of the progenitor system(s) and explosion mechanisms across the multiple types of SNe.

MSc Thesis: Spectroscopy of LT Dwarfs

L. Piscarreta, K. Muzic, V. Almendros-Abad and A. Scholz (2024)

Free-floating planetary-mass objects have masses that overlap with those of giant exoplanets, but they do not orbit a star. JWST and next-generation facilities are expected to uncover populations of young planetary-mass brown dwarfs, which have spectral types (SpTs) L and T and are shaped by molecular absorption and modified by their low gravity, which makes them distinct from field objects.

With this in mind, we reduced and analyzed archival VLT/XSHOOTER spectra from young LT dwarfs located in nearby young moving groups and nearby star-forming regions. We provided a detailed characterization of the near-infrared spectra of these objects, including robust spectral typing and calibrated spectral indices that 1) exhibit a good correlation with SpT, whilst being gravity-insensitive; or, 2) are gravity-sensitive and therefore can be used to distinguish young dwarfs from older, field objects. Additionally, we defined twelve preliminary empirical NIR spectral standards for young LT dwarfs. 

BSc Project: Multi-wavelength Study of Monoceros R2

In this project, I used optical data from Gaia DR2 and Pan-STARRS and near-infrared data from VHS and 2MASS to distinguish which stars belong to the star-forming region Monoceros R2 (by combining the information from magnitudes and proper motions). I also obtained the distance to the molecular cloud, through a maximum likelihood procedure, and the Initial Mass Function.