My main research interests
Binary interaction products
About 50% of solar-like stars are born with a companion, and this fraction only increases at higher masses. Polluted stars that have received material from a companion in a binary system are excellent tracers of binary interaction processes and mass transfer models.
Low-mass evolved stars
Low- and intermediate-mass stars are the main source of carbon, dust and many heavy metals in their host galaxies. Understanding their evolution and the chemical reactions that operate in their interiors is crucial to understanding the chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium.
Stellar spectroscopy
The electromagnetic spectrum of a star contains powerful information about many stellar properties such as the temperature of a star, the chemical composition of its atmosphere, and the velocity it has in the line of sight of the observer.
Important recent paper contributions
K 1-6 is a photoionised interstellar medium nebula shaped by a fast-moving hot white dwarf in a triple system
Merc, J., Jones, D., Escorza, A. et al. (2026)
Gaia FGK benchmark stars: Abundances of n-capture elements
Vitali, S., Jofré, P., Casamiquela, L. et al. with Escorza, A. (2026)
SPECFANN: Spectral Fitting via Artificial Neural Networks
Abdul-Masih, M., Hawcroft, C., Lechien, T. et al., with Escorza, A. (2026)
Stellar nucleosynthesis in the era of large surveys: S-process-polluted binaries in GALAH DR4
Escorza, A., Vitali, S., Godoy-Rivera, D. et al. (2026)
Technetium-rich M stars: Prime diagnostics of recent third dredge-up events on the asymptotic giant branch
Shetye, S., Van Eck, S., Jorissen, A., Escorza, A. et al. (2025)
A comprehensive Gaia view of ellipsoidal and rotational red giant binaries
Navarrete, C., Recio-Blanco, A., de Laverny, P. & Escorza, A. (2025)
Full abundance study of two newly discovered barium giants
Vitali, S., Escorza, A., Slumstrup, D. & Jofré, P. (2024)
An impressionist view of V Hydrae. When MATISSE paints asymmetric giant blobs
A few talks available online
Contributed talk at DELVE: the Death-throes of EvoLved stars
The scientific focus of the conference was the chemistry and physics of evolved stars, particularly AGB and RSG stars, and included talks on observations, modelling and theory. The SOC granted me a talk on "Barium stars as tracers of AGB nucleosynthesis"
Invited seminar for the O-MESS online seminar series
The O-MESS (Online Meetings on Evolved Stars and Systems) seminar series consisted of weekly meetings, with two 30-minute seminars per week on evolved stars.
Invited seminar at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias
In 2020, I was invited to visit the Astronomy Institute of the Canary Islands and to present my freshly defended PhD Thesis in a seminar there. The visit had to be cancelled because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, but I gave my seminar and Zoom and the recording is available online.
Contributed talk at ImBaSE 2017
This is one of the few in-person conferences I have attended where all the talks are available online. The conference, organised by ESO, focused on the Impact of Binaries on Stellar Evolution, and I presented early results of my PhD work.