Carnegie’s Earth and Planets Laboratory welcomes prestigious 51 Pegasi b Fellow

Washington, DC—Marbely Micolta will join Carnegie Science as a Heising-Simons 51 Pegasi b Fellow this fall. Part of the prestigious program’s 10th class, Micolta will use the three-year fellowship to study the cosmic construction sites that build stars and planets. 

This fellowship provides outstanding postdoctoral scientists with the opportunity to conduct theoretical, observational, and experimental research in planetary astronomy, a growing field that connects the study of objects within our Solar System to exoplanet research. The program was named after the first planet discovered orbiting a Sun-like star—a research breakthrough in which Carnegie Science’s own Paul Butler played a critical role. 

“This is a momentous milestone,” said Emily Schaller, Science Program Officer at the Heising-Simons Foundation, announcing the fellowships’ 10th cohort. “What began in 2017 as a new program looking to support an underfunded area of scientific inquiry has evolved into a vibrant community of remarkable scientists, many of whom now hold faculty positions at colleges and universities worldwide. It is inspiring to witness this community thrive and make significant contributions to science.” 

Peter Gao, a Staff Scientist at Carnegie Science’s Earth and Planets Laboratory, and Jessica Spake and Shreyas Vissapragada, Staff Scientists at the Carnegie Science Observatories, are former 51 Pegasi b Fellows. 

As part of the 2026 cohort, Micolta is one of eight new fellows who will join a vibrant community that now consists of 74 fellows and alumni dedicated to advancing our understanding of planet formation, exoplanets, and Solar System science.

“In 2024, Carnegie Science was selected as a host institution for the 51 Pegasi b Fellowship program and now we are so proud to have our first fellow join us this year,” said Vice President for Research Anat Shahar. “At our Earth and Planets Laboratory, astronomers can collaborate with geophysicists, cosmochemists, high-pressure mineral physicists, petrologists, and astrobiologists to open new doors to discovery. I am confident Marbely will find exciting opportunities on this campus.”

Micolta will receive her Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics, as well as scientific computing, from the University of Michigan this summer. Her research focuses on protoplanetary disks—the swirling gas and dust around young stars that serve as planetary raw material. 

During her graduate program at Michigan, Micolta developed a new way to investigate planet formation by looking at the dust in these disks, and for evidence that material is actively falling toward the star. By analyzing light from powerful ground- and space-based telescopes, including Carnegie Science’s Magellan Telescopes, and utilizing models, she measures whether key rock-forming elements—like calcium, magnesium, and iron—are missing from a star’s immediate surroundings. In several systems that otherwise looked identical, she discovered unexpected shortages of these rocky ingredients. Her finding suggests that those tiny solid grains drift, grow, gather, and eventually form the cores of both gas giant and terrestrial planets.

“We are thrilled to have Marbely bring her exciting new research directions to EPL,” said Associate Division Director Alycia Weinberger, who shares Marbely’s interests in planet formation. “This is the perfect environment to foster Marbely’s ambitious research vision.”

As a 51 Pegasi b Fellow at Carnegie, Micolta will expand her work across a broader range of wavelengths, adding iron as a new probe of rocky depletion in the innermost regions of disks. She plans to observe at least ten additional systems, including older disks, to build one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind. Her ultimate goal is to anchor planet formation models directly to observed disk conditions.

“The most fun part of my research so far is that you can try to make your best guess of what nature is doing, but most of the time it will do something that you don’t expect,” Micolta said.

Beyond her research, she enjoys building community. Throughout graduate school, Micolta served as co-organizer for Astronomía en Español, an affinity group that connects history, culture, and science to highlight Latin American contributions to the field.

This year, the 51 Pegasi b fellowship program saw a record number of applications, reflecting the growing importance of this field and of the Heising-Simons Foundation’s approach to supporting fellows holistically––as people, as scientists, and as members of a vibrant community advancing progress in planetary astronomy.

As part of the three-year grant that the fellowship provides to cover salary and benefits, scientists receive highly flexible research-related discretionary spending. Fellows are also invited to apply to extend their fellowship for a fourth year or can apply for a grant equivalent to one year of funds if they receive a faculty or permanent staff position in astronomy. 

The fellowship’s annual summit brings together past and current fellows to connect about their research and focus on professional development and team building. Past summits have included workshops on science communication, time management, and mentorship strategies.