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Lisa Prato
Lowell Observatory
1400 West Mars Hill Road
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
phone: (928) 774 3358
fax: (928) 774 6296
lprato[at]lowell[dot]edu
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NEW! Young star binary database from PPV
Research Interests
Most of my work currently involves young binary stars, from
their origin, evolution, and capacity for planet formation, to their
exploitation as a means of calibrating theoretical pre-main-sequence models.
Because most young stars are in gravitationally bound binary systems, this
is an important research area. The smallest separation doubles, spectroscopic binaries,
turn out to be so interesting (largely because it is possible to measure
their orbital velocities and mass ratios and therefore gain insight into
their component masses) that I've become somewhat carried away with them
as they've spawned additional projects for me on pre-main-sequence and
main-sequence M star spectroscopic binaries, young and
field (old) brown dwarf spectroscopic binaries, and very old population II
spectroscopic binaries. Some of this work is described in the references listed
below. A lot of it is in progress. I am currently working on some of the
brown dwarf data and on the pop IIs.
Education/Experience
B.S.,
University of Massachusettes at Amherst, 1986
Instructor,
Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia, 1988-1991
Ph.D.,
State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1998
Postdoctoral Researcher,
University of California at Los Angeles, 1998-2004
Assistant Astronomer,
Lowell Observatory, 2004-present
CV in postscript format
Selected Publications
Partial list of publications; conference proceedings include links to
gzipped postscript files:
- McCabe, C., A. M. Ghez, L. Prato, G. Duchene, R. S. Fisher, & C. Telesco 2006. Investigating Disk Evolution: A High Spatial Resolution
Mid-Infrared Survey of T Tauri Stars, ApJ, in press (astro-ph)
- Bender, C., M. Simon, L. Prato, T. Mazeh, & S. Zucker 2005. An Upper Bound on the 1.6 Micron Flux Ratio of the Companion to rho Coronae Borealis, AJ, 129, 402
(ADS)
- Beck, T. L., G. H. Schaefer, M. Simon, L. Prato, J. A. Stoesz, & R. R. Howell
2004. A High Spatial Resolution Infrared View of the T Tauri Multiple System, ApJ,
129, 235 (ADS)
- Simon, M., & L. Prato 2004. The Double-lined Spectroscopic Binary Haro 1-14c,
ApJ, 613, L69 (ADS)
- McGovern, M. R., J. D. Kirkpatrick, I. S. McLean, A. J. Burgasser, L. Prato,
& P. J. Lowrance 2003. Identifying Young Brown Dwarfs Using Gravity-Sensitive
Spectral Features, ApJ, 600, 1020 (ADS)
- Mazeh, T., M. Simon, L. Prato, B. Markus, & S. Zucker 2003.
The Mass Ratio Distribution in Main-Sequence Spectroscopic Binaries
Measured by Infrared Spectroscopy, ApJ, 599, 1344 (ADS)
- McLean, I. S., M. R. McGovern, A. J. Burgasser, J. D. Kirkpatrick, L. Prato,
& S. S. Kim 2003. The NIRSPEC Brown Dwarf Spectroscopic Survey. I. Low-Resolution Near-Infrared Spectra, ApJ, 596, 561 (ADS)
- Prato, L., T. P. Greene, & M. Simon 2003.
Astrophsics of Young Star Binaries, ApJ, 584, 853 (ADS)
- Prato, L., M. Simon, T. Mazeh, S. Zucker, & I. S.
McLean 2002. Component Masses of the Young Spectroscopic Binary UZ Tau E,
ApJ, 579, L99 (ADS)
- Rodriguez-Ardila, A., S. M. Viegas, M. G. Pastoriza, & L.
Prato 2002. Near-Infrared Coronal Lines in Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies,
ApJ, 579, 214 (ADS)
- Prato, L., M. Simon, T. Mazeh, I. S. McLean,
D. Norman, & S. Zucker 2002. The Smallest Mass Ratio Young
Star Spectroscopic Binaries, ApJ, 569, 863 (ADS)
- Mazeh, T., L. Prato, M. Simon, E. Goldberg, D. Norman, &
S. Zucker 2002. IR Detection of Low-Mass Secondaries in
Spectroscopic Binaries, ApJ, 564, 1007 (ADS)
- Prato, L. 2001. Diffraction-Limited Imaging of HD 98800, in Young Stars
Near Earth: Progress and Prospects, ed. R. Jayawardhana
& T. Greene (San Francisco: ASP), 197 (PS)
- McLean, I. S., L. Prato, S. S. Kim, M. K. Wilcox, J. D.
Kirkpatrick, & A. Burgasser 2001. Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of
Brown Dwarfs: Methane and the Transition Between the L and T
Spectral Types, ApJ, 561, L115 (ADS)
- Rodriguez-Ardila, A., S. M. Viegas, M. G. Pastoriza, &
Prato, L. 2001. Infrared FeII Emission in Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies,
ApJ, 565, 140 (ADS)
- Prato, L., & J.-L. Monin 2001. Correlations of Spectral
Accretion Signatures in Young Binaries, in The Formation of Binary Stars, ed.
H. Zinnecker & R. D. Mathieu (PS)
- Steffen, A. T., R. D. Mathieu, M. G. Lattanzi, D. W.
Latham, T. Mazeh, L. Prato, M. Simon, H. Zinnecker, & D. Loreggia
2001. A Dynamical Mass Constraint for Pre-Main-Sequence
Evolutionary Tracks: The Binary NTT 045251+3016, AJ, 122,
997 (ADS)
- Beck, T. L., Prato, L., & Simon, M. 2001. Evidence for
Extinction and Accretion Variability in T Tau S, ApJ,
551, 1031 (ADS)
- Prato, L., et al. 2001. Keck Diffraction-Limited
Imaging of the Young Quadruple Star System HD 98800, ApJ,
549, 590 (ADS)
- Dutrey, A., S. Guilloteau, L. Prato, M. Simon, G. Duvert,
K. Schuster, & F. Menard 1998. CO Study of the GM Aurigae Keplerian Disk,
A&A, 338, L63 (ADS)
- Prato, L., & M. Simon 1997. Are Both Stars in a Classic
T Tauri Binary Classic T Tauris? ApJ, 474, 455(ADS)
- Dutrey, A., S. Guilloteau, G. Duvert, L. Prato, M. Simon,
K. Schuster, & F. Menard 1996. Dust and Gas Distribution around
T Tauri Stars in Taurus-Auriga. I. Interferometric 2.7mm Continuum and
13CO J=1-0 Observations, A&A, 309, 493 (ADS)
- Simon, M., & L. Prato 1995. Disk Dissipation in Single and
Binary Young Star Systems in Taurus, ApJ, 450, 824 (ADS)
- Skrutskie, M. F., L. Prato, S. V. W. Beckwith, & T. M.
Herbst 1993. Accurate Measurement of the Displacement
between the Line and Continuum Emitting Regions in LkH-alpha101,
AJ, 106, 747 (ADS)
Lowell Observatory Home Page
Last modified: 7/25/2005
lprato[at]lowell[dot]edu