Margo Thornton

About Me

Hi! My name is Margo Thornton, and I am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, where I work with Ben Montet as a part of the NEarby World and Their Stars (NEWTS) group on the detection of circumbinary planets (exoplanets orbiting binary stars). Before starting my Ph.D., I earned a M.S. in Astronomy at San Diego State University (SDSU) and a B.S. in Physics at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, with minors in Astronomy and Mathematics.

Alongside my research, I'm passionate about science communication and public engagement. I co-lead the Ambassadors of the Cosmos initiative, an outreach program that brings astronomy to broader audiences through stargazing events and our Instagram account @cosmic_ambassadors. See more info about my research and outreach!

I am originally from Los Altos, California, where my passion for the outdoors began. In my free time, you'll usually find me surfing, scuba diving, hiking, skiing, sailing, van camping, or playing in my social soccer league.

Research

I am interested in the detection of planetary systems around binary stars, particularly in methods beyond traditional transit observations. Most known circumbinary planets have been discovered by their transits, which biases our understanding toward systems with coplanar architectures. In my recent work, submitted to MNRAS, I explore how apsidal precession can serve as a dynamical signature of unseen planetary companions. By analysing TESS photometry of 1,590 eclipsing binaries from the Gaia DR3 Catalogue of Eclipsing Binary Candidates, we identify systems with measurable apsidal precession that cannot be explained by general relativistic, tidal, or rotational effects alone. This approach allows us to constrain the possible masses and orbital separations of potential circumbinary planets, and we present a set of 27 candidate planets identified through this method, along with 6 higher-mass companion candidates. Follow-up observations, such as radial velocities, are needed to confirm these candidates and refine their properties.

Above: Presenting my work at the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Anchorage, Alaska.

Above and below: At the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT)

Outreach & Teaching

I am passionate about science communication and engaging students of all ages with astronomy and STEM. In the first year of my PhD, I served as the Specialist in Residence at Emanuel School, a local K–12 school, where I taught for four weeks across all levels—from preschool to Year 12 physics—developing hands-on activities and lessons tailored to each age group.

Through my Master's and the start of my PhD, I have received grants in two separate years from NASA SCoPE. The first year, I organised a symposium for community college students, providing an introduction to astronomy and highlighting STEM career pathways. The second year, I ran stargazing nights and maintained the @cosmic_ambassadors Instagram account, which promotes STEM careers and inspires students to explore space science.

I have recently become an Educational Affiliate with the SETI Institute, further supporting my commitment to education, outreach, and expanding access to astronomy.

In addition, during my Master’s degree, I served as the lead teaching associate for introductory astronomy labs, designing curriculum, supervising lab sessions, and mentoring undergraduate students in practical observational and computational astronomy skills.

These experiences have allowed me to combine hands-on teaching, public engagement, and social media outreach to make astronomy more accessible and inspire the next generation of scientists.

Above: Teaching an undergraduate student at SDSU in an introductory astronomy lab.

Above: The NASA SCoPE Symposium crew.

Above: Teaching year 1 students at Emanuel School.

Contact

Email: margo.thornton@unsw.edu.au

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