Francesca Manni is a 2nd year PhD student at the University of Tor Vergata (Rome) and her supervisors are Luigi Mancini (ToV) and Alessandro Sozzetti (OATo). In January 2023, she started to collaborate with INAF-OATo. She graduated in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Sapienza (Rome) and attended a II level Master in Science and Space Technology at the University of Tor Vergata in 2022/2023.
Her PhD project aims to reveal new Neptunian planets amenable for atmospheric characterization, through follow-up observations and mass determination of TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) candidates. By analyzing the host stars radial velocities taken with high-resolution spectrographs such as HARPS and HARPS-N, it is in fact possible to measure the mass and other key parameters (i.e. temperature, eccentricity, density and so on). The characterization of exoplanets and their host stars is fundamental to understand the planetary formation and evolution theories. Finally, she is a member of GAPS, collaborating in particular on the Neptunian program with Mario Damasso (OATo) and Luca Naponiello (OATo).