Te Han

About

I am a planet hunter. I began at UCSB with Tim Brandt, improving TESS full-frame image light curves and laying the groundwork for the TESS–Gaia Light Curves (TGLC) dataset. At UC Irvine with Paul Robertson, I joined the GEMS survey and led the discovery of TOI-5344 b, a giant planet orbiting an M dwarf. Building on TGLC, we revealed a systematic underestimation of TESS planet radii affecting hundreds of known worlds. Now, I lead SURFSUP, a survey of ultra-fast rotators to uncover some of the youngest planets in our galaxy. I am actively working on planets across stellar types and leveraging the best instruments available today and in the future.

Projects

First-Author Publications

• TESS–Gaia Light Curve: A PSF-based TESS FFI Light-curve Product, Han & Brandt, AJ 165, 71 (2023). ADS
• TOI-5344 b: A Saturn-like Planet Orbiting a Super-solar Metallicity M0 Dwarf, Han, Robertson, Kanodia et al., AJ 167, 4 (2024). ADS
• NEIDSpecMatch: Stellar Parameter Estimation with NEID Spectra Using an Empirical Library, Han, Robertson, Cañas et al., RNAAS 9, 63 (2025). ADS
• Hundreds of TESS Exoplanets Might Be Larger than We Thought, Han, Robertson, Brandt et al., ApJL 988, L4 (2025). ADS
• SURFSUP: Surveying Ultrafast Rotators For SUperyoung Planets, Han, Robertson, Holcomb et al., In prep. (2025).

Education

• Ph.D. in Physics, University of California, Irvine — 2021–2026 (expected)
  Advisor: Paul Robertson
• M.S. in Physics, University of California, Irvine — 2021–2024
  Advisor: Paul Robertson
• B.S. in Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara — 2017–2020
  Advisor: Timothy Brandt

Research & Academic Positions

• Visiting Student, MIT — 2025
• Graduate Student Researcher, UC Irvine — 2023–present
• Teaching Assistant, UC Irvine — 2021–2022
• Lab Assistant, UC Santa Barbara — 2020–2021
• Physics Study Room Fellow, UC Santa Barbara — 2018–2020
• Learning Assistant, UC Santa Barbara — 2018–2019

Talks & Posters

• Caltech/IPAC Lunch Seminar — Invited talk: TGLC & TESS radius bias · Apr 2025
• Know Thy Star, Caltech — Poster: SURFSUP · Feb 2025
• TESS Science Conference III, MIT — Contributed talk: TGLC Performance · Jul 2024
• CoolStars22, UCSD — Poster: SURFSUP · Jun 2024
• TESS Science Talk, MIT (Remote) — Invited talk: TGLC Technical details · Apr 2024
• ExoSoCal 2023, Caltech — Invited talk: TOI-5344 b as a GEMS planet · Dec 2023
• TESS Science Talk, MIT — Invited talk: TGLC Methods · Aug 2023
• TESS Mission Update, MIT — Contributed talk: TGLC · Jun 2023

Skills

• Programming: Python
• Research & Data: Ground-based telescope planning, Exoplanet modeling, RV time-series analysis, Light curve analysis, Spectra analysis, 3D modeling
• Technical Tools: Deep space astrophotography, DSLR/Drone photography, 3D printing
• Communication: Public speaking, Teaching, Science writing, TEDx organizer (TEDxHarbinNo3HighSchool)
• Languages: Chinese (Native), English (Fluent)

Contact

Irvine, US 92697 · (805) 280-6544 · teh2@uci.edu