Tomomi Otani

Title
Assistant Professor
Email
Department
Physical Sciences Department
College
College of Arts & Sciences

Office Hours

M 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm, W 12:00 pm 2:00 pm, F 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm (COAS 319.30)

Areas of Expertise

Time series photometry, Multiple star systems, Hot subdwarf stars, Stellar pulsations, Binary star evolution, Gyrochronology
Tomomi Otani

Dr. Tomomi Otani is an assistant professor of Astronomy in the Daytona Beach Physical Science Department.

Dr. Otani holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in Space Sciences from the Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne. Before her academic career, she was a Project Assistant Professor at Wakayama University, Japan and served as a lead engineer for a ground station supporting the Japanese microsatellite UNIFORM-1 [NORAD ID: 39697].

Dr. Otani's expertise is the observational study of binary evolution. About half to 85% of stars in the universe are known as binary or multiple-star systems. Her students and she look for binary or multiple-star systems and find their orbital information. Instead of checking radial velocity, which is a common method of searching for binary systems, they check the radial 'distance' variation of stars due to the orbital motion. Their method is more sensitive to searching longer orbital period systems compared with other common methods. The orbital information of binary or multiple star systems is important to constrain the current binary and multiple star evolution theories, which also helps to understand the evolution of our universe. 

Over the past five years, Dr. Otani has successfully secured a total of about 1.2 million dollars in external funding from NASA and NSF, serving in roles as both Principal Investigator (PI) and co-PI.

  • Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology
  • M.S. - Master of Science in Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology
  • PS 113: Introductory Physics I

PS113 - Introductory Physics I

PS117 - Introductory Physics II

PS150 - Physics for Engineers I

PS160 - Physics for Engineers II

PS224L -  Intro General Astrophysics Lab

PS318L - Intro Astrophysics Lab

PS399 - Special Topics in Physical Science

PS499 - Special Topics in Physical Science 

[Research Grants]

2024: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, TESS Guest Investigator(Cycle 6) [PI] ($60,000)

​80NSSC24K0494: “Searching for Subdwarf B Long Orbital Period Binary Systems and Single Stars Using the Light Time Delay Method”

2021: National Science Foundation, Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants[PI] ($232,410) 

 AST2108975: "Orbital solutions study of Subdwarf B wide binary systems" 

2020: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, TESS Guest Investigator(Cycle 3) [PI] ($40,000)

 80NSSC21K0245: “Searching Long Period Subdwarf B Binary Systems Using the Light Time Delay Method”

2019: National Science Foundation, Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants[Co-PI] ($395,048)

 AST1910396: "Confronting the Stellar Gyrochronology Paradigm Using Wide Binaries" 

2018: American Astronomical Society, IAU General Assembly travel grant($2100)

2018: American Astronomical Society, International Travel Grant 2018-1($1500)

2018: International Astronomical Union, IAU XXIX General Assembly Grant(750 €)

[Teaching Grants]

2023: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, IGNITE Mini-Grant ($500)

2021: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, IGNITE Mini-Grant($500)

2017: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, IGNITE Course Redesign Grant($1000)

2016: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, IGNITE Course Redesign Grant($1000)

2016: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, IGNITE Digital Literacies Grant($500)