Alexandre Araújo
He/Him
I am gay and I am an astrophysicist.//
I’m a Brazilian astrophysicist born in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon! I faced numerous challenges to gain admission to the university and pursue a career in science. These difficulties arose due to coming from a very impoverished region of Brazil and also being part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
I am dedicated to the study of stellar activity in solar-type stars. Still challenging is the correlation between stellar flares and superflares and the presence of spots on the surface of the stars. Understanding the relationship between flares and starspots is extremely important, not only for the dynamo mechanism at work on these stars, but also because these processes drastically affect the atmospheric and biological environment of orbiting planets. For the first time, it is possible to study the connection of starspots with the presence of flares and superflares using the method of starspots mapping from planetary transits. With information on the coverage of spots at different longitudes and latitudes, such as their sizes and frequency, we propose to search for correlations between these spots and the occurrence of flares and superflares. Thus, stellar activity studies, essentially those involving starspots, flares, superflares, and magnetic fields, are essential to guide new observations. Some of the most important properties of flares, coronal mass ejections, and energetic particles, including their energies and frequency of occurrence, are determined by the strength of the magnetic field and the size of the stellar active region associated with the starspot area derived from observations.
Implementing policies and taking actions to support the LGBTQIA+ community in universities is crucial, particularly in areas where heteronormativity is prevalent.