Astrophysics x machine learning

The Yale AstroML Research Group

We develop physics-driven engines for modeling pulsating stars, stellar populations, and galaxies, connecting machine learning to astrophysical questions ranging from the nature of the first stars and black holes to the structure of the Milky Way.

Big observational data confronts big theoretical data:
interpretable machine-learning methods to pair modern inference with astrophysical insight

Population III stars

From primordial stars to heavy black-hole seeds.

The elusive first generation of stars to form in the universe are called Population III stars. Our Pop III work spans the lowest-mass survivors that may still be in the Milky Way today, the feedback of evolved and massive Pop III stars on their host galaxies, and the supermassive quasi-stars that may seed the earliest supermassive black holes.

The Milky Way and its dwarfs

(Extra-)galactic archaeology with stellar pulsations.

We confront galaxy simulations with inferences from pulsating stars to understand the structure and evolution of the Milky Way and its satellites.

Asteroseismology

The music of the stars.

We analyze the oscillations of stars in order to peer into their inner structure and determine their ages. We model the entire spectrum of pulsators: main sequence stars, giants, supergiants, classical pulsators, and white dwarfs. We also work on exotic stars: Hawking stars, Thorne–Żytkow objects, dark matter stars, and quasi-stars.

Open Science

Public tools for modern astrophysics.

We develop open-source software, such as the MESA stellar evolution software instrument, to accelerate progress across astrophysics. We are also involved in the development of several next-generation instruments, such as the forthcoming ESA PLATO satellite.

News and milestones

Recent papers, talks, awards, group events, and moments worth celebrating.

  • April 08, 2026
    Earl Bellinger meeting Andrea Ghez, winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics, while giving the astronomy colloquium at UCLA!
  • March 25, 2026
    Ebraheem Farag, Selim Kalici and Earl Bellinger travelled to Bern, Switzerland to give invited talks and collaborate with the International Space Science Institute EXPANDING team!
  • March 25, 2026
    AAS Nova featured Andy Santarelli’s work on quasi-stars and little red dots in “Starring in the Early Universe: Black Hole Stars and Little Red Dots”, highlighting how late-stage quasi-stars may explain JWST observations of little red dots and the origins of early supermassive black holes. Congratulations Andy!
  • March 18, 2026
    Eb Farag’s paper, “Self-Consistent Nonlinear Classical Cepheid Pulsations During Stellar Evolution with MESA”, has been accepted for publication into The Astrophysical Journal. Congratulations Eb!
  • March 13, 2026
    Thanks to funding from the DOE, we are excited to host the Yale/CeNAM Nuclear Asteroseismology Workshop at Yale University from July 20-24, 2026!

People

An inclusive research group led by Earl Bellinger spanning postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers.

Faculty

Earl Bellinger
Assistant Professor, Group Leader

Postdoctoral Researchers

Pratik Gandhi
Postdoctoral Associate
Sifan Wang
FDS Fellow
Christopher Lindsay
Ph.D., Yale Astronomy
Yan Liang
Yan Liang
51 Peg b Fellow

Postdogs

Atlas
Atlas
Goodest Boy, World

Graduate Students

Selim Kalici
Selim Kalici
Ph.D. Student, Yale Astronomy
Thiago Ferreira dos Santos
Thiago Ferreira dos Santos
Ph.D. Candidate, Yale Astronomy
Naomi Gluck
Ph.D. Candidate, Yale Physics
Surendra Bhattarai
Ph.D. Student, Yale Astronomy
Bhavya Pardasani
Bhavya Pardasani
Ph.D. Candidate, Yale Astronomy
Vincent Eberle
Ph.D. Student, MPA Garching
Andrew Santarelli
Andrew Santarelli
Ph.D. Student, Yale Astronomy
Connor Jennings
Connor Jennings
Ph.D. Student, Yale Astronomy
Ramisa Rahman
Ph.D. Student, Yale Astronomy
Noah Downing
Ph.D. Student, Yale Astronomy

Undergraduate Students

Irmak Akdoğan
Irmak Akdoğan
Third Year, Yale Physics
Andrés Luengo
Andrés Luengo
Third Year, Yale Physics
Kyra Bettwy
Kyra Bettwy
Third Year, Yale Astronomy

Alumni

Lynn Buchele
Lynn Buchele
Ph.D., 2025. Now a postdoc at ISTA
Maria Korolik
Maria Korolik
B.Sc., 2025. Now at KU Leuven
KJ McConnell
KJ McConnell
B.Sc., 2025. Now at Kirkland & Ellis
Julia Levy
Julia Levy
B.Sc., 2025
Sofya Levitina
Sofya Levitina
Former YAML postgrad. Now at Longeveron

Awards & Funding

Fellowships, grants, awards, and research support across the YAML group.

2026

Selim Kalici

Peter Salovey and Marta Moret Data Science Fellowship

2025

Naomi Gluck

D. Allan Bromley Fellowship

2025

Kyra Bettwy

Rosenfeld Science Scholar Fellowship

2025

Earl Bellinger

Yale AI Seed Grant ($88,000)

2024

Andrés Luengo

Yale College First-Year Summer Research Fellowship

2024

KJ McConnell

Yale Dean's Research Fellowship

2024

Yan Liang

51 Peg b Fellowship

2024

Nicholas Saunders

YCAA Fellowship

2024

Earl Bellinger

DOE FOA ($40,000)

Papers

Key: Faculty Postdoc Graduate student Undergraduate student