Skip to main content
LOGO(small) - Queen's University Belfast
  • Our facebook
  • Our twitter
  • Our
  • Our
SEARCH SEARCH
LOGO(large) - Queen's University Belfast

School of

Mathematics and Physics

  • Home
  • Study
    • Undergraduate Maths
    • Undergraduate Physics
    • Postgraduate Taught
    • Postgraduate Research
    • International
    • Student Handbook
    • Visiting Students
  • Research
    • Research Centres
    • Our researchers
    • Find a PhD Supervisor
    • PhD Research Students
  • International
  • Business / Careers
  • Discover
    • About the School
    • Gender Equality
    • Outreach
    • Green Impact
    • Safe Harbour Scheme
  • Connect
    • Staff
    • Get in touch
  • News
    • News Archive
  • Events
  • Home
  • Study
    • Undergraduate Maths
    • Undergraduate Physics
    • Postgraduate Taught
    • Postgraduate Research
    • International
    • Student Handbook
    • Visiting Students
  • Research
    • Research Centres
    • Our researchers
    • Find a PhD Supervisor
    • PhD Research Students
  • International
  • Business / Careers
  • Discover
    • About the School
    • Gender Equality
    • Outreach
    • Green Impact
    • Safe Harbour Scheme
  • Connect
    • Staff
    • Get in touch
  • News
    • News Archive
  • Events
  • Our facebook
  • Our twitter
  • Our
  • Home
  • School of Mathematics and Physics
  • Research
  • PhD Research Students
  • Laura Buchanan - Student Profile

Laura Buchanan - Student Profile

PhD student profile photo

Exploring the Relics of Planet Formation: The Kuiper Belt Colour/Composition Connection

In order to understand the origins of our Solar System it is important to study the bodies contained within the Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is made up of a sea of icy planetesimals, the remaining relics of planet-forming bodies that failed to evolve into a planet beyond Neptune. By studying their surfaces using different colour filters we can distinguish a range of differing surface colours, and so differing surface compositions.

For my work I am investigating where in the early Solar System these different surface compositions may have formed.  I’m doing this by inserting colour distributions into a model of the primordial Kuiper belt, and then seeing where these objects end up in the modern day Kuiper belt. I can then compare these modelled Kuiper belt colours with the surface colours that have been observed within the Kuiper belt by the Colours of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (Col-OSSOS), and so get an idea of the primordial Kuiper belt colours.

Biography

Before my PhD, I spent 4 years studying for an MSci in Physics with Astrophysics at Queen’s University Belfast. For my Masters project I investigated the behaviour of magnetoacoustic waves in the chromosphere around sunspots on the Sun. I then moved onto studying the compositions of objects within the Kuiper belt for my PhD at Queen’s, which I started in October 2019. I also enjoy participating in outreach activities, such as volunteering at the NI Science Festival along with many QUB recruitment events for A Level students.

Research interests

  • Kuiper belt object compositions
  • Solar System formation
  • Observational astronomy

PURE Page

In This Section
PhD Research Students
  • PhD Research Students
  • Pablo Galán de Anta - Student Profile
  • Kerem Osman Çubuk - Student Profile
  • Fionntán Callan - Student Profile
  • Ryan Campbell - Student Profile
  • Christopher Dillon - Student Profile
  • Caitlin Gilchrist-Millar - Student Profile
  • Dominik Kiersz - Student Profile
  • Conor MacBride - Student Profile
  • Christopher McCooey - Student Profile
  • Stephanie Merritt - Student Profile
  • Sean Quinn - Student Profile
  • James Edward Robinson - Student Profile
  • Richard Smith - Student Profile
  • Jamie Wilson - Student Profile
  • Javier Fernández Troncoso - Student Profile
  • Musharei Abdullal A Alanazi - Student Profile
  • Suhail Albakheet - Student Profile
  • Asmaa Mohammad S Ali - Student Profile
  • Matthew Charlwood - Student Profile
  • Benjamin Greenwood - Student Profile
  • Fayza Adel Hanafy Hassan - Student Profile
  • Cormac Hyland - Student Profile
  • Sinéad A. Mannion - Student Profile
  • Orla McCusker - Student Profile
  • Jyotirup Sarma - Student Profile
  • Rachel E. Smith - Student Profile
  • Andrew Conroy - Student Profile
  • Jaroslav Hofierka - Student Profile
  • Heather Leitch - Student Profile
  • Peter McConnell - Student Profile
  • Luke Roantree - Student Profile
  • Gareth Boreland - Student Profile
  • Melanie Campell - Student Profile
  • Karys Dickson - Student Profile
  • Ethan Hawthorne - Student Profile
  • Nathan Kirk - Student Profile
  • Michael Rosbotham - Student Profile
  • Niall Taggart - Student Profile
  • Tasha Montgomery - Student Profile
  • Dulan Samuditha Dias - Student Profile
  • Lauren Connell- Student Profile
  • Hristo Gergov- Student Profile
  • Hugh Littlehailes- Student Profile
  • Josua Lo- Student Profile
  • Pierre Maidment- Student Profile
  • James McCartan- Student Profile
  • Simon Munro- Student Profile
  • Anthony Murphy- Student Profile
  • Tamsin Isabel O’Reilly - Student Profile
  • Frederic Rendell-Bhatti- Student Profile
  • Sarah Ruddell- Student Profile
  • Tiernan McCaughery - Student Profile
  • Donal O’Cofaigh - Student Profile
  • Emel Yavuz - Student Profile
  • Jeremy Rigney - Student Profile
  • Carla McDonnell - Student Profile
  • Conor McCluskey - Student Profile
  • Jesi Maguire - Student Profile
  • John J. Scott - Student Profile
  • Jack Cassidy - Student Profile
  • Matthew McCollum - Student Profile
  • Lynda Hutcheson - Student Profile
  • Conor McAnespie - Student Profile
  • Shaun McLaughlin - Student Profile
  • Conor Fegan - Student Profile
  • Nicholas Stephen - Student Profile
  • Colm Fitzpatrick - Student Profile
  • Sean McCallum - Student Profile
  • Sam Shepherd - Student Profile
  • David Jackson - Student Profile
  • Sheron Blair - Student Profile
  • Peter Read - Student Profile
  • Laura Buchanan - Student Profile
  • Qiongyuan Wu - Student Profile
  • Aaron Monson - Student Profile
  • Tamsin O'Reilly - Student Profile
  • Jarod Gouldie - Student Profile
  • Jonathan Henderson - Student Profile
  • Chloe Ho - Student Profile
  • Matthew Dobson - Student Profile
  • Orla Surgeoner - Student Profile
  • Brendan Loughran - Student Profile
  • Ahmet Suna - Student Profile
  • Jonathan Kennedy - Student Profile
Queen's University Belfast - Logo (small)
Contact Us

School of Mathematics and Physics

Main Physics Building
University Road
Belfast
BT7 1NN

GET DIRECTIONS

General School Enquiries:

E-mail: mp@qub.ac.uk

Telephone: +44 (0)28 9097 1386/5293

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Study
  • Careers
  • Research

 

© Queen's University Belfast 2021
Legal
Accessibility Statement
Privacy and Cookies
Modern Slavery Statement