Sherelyn Alejandro Merchan

My research focuses on analyzing the atmospheres of cold extrasolar worlds using observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in an effort to characterize them. By constructing their spectral energy distributions (SEDs), I am able to calculate fundamental parameters like luminosity and effective temperature, which we can then compare.
Additionally, I develop code for the open-source package SEDkit: a collection of python modules used for constructing SEDs. Below are some projects I have been a part of.

Methane emission from a cool brown dwarf

Diversity of Cold Worlds: A Near Complete Spectral Energy Distribution for 2MASS J04151954−0935066 using JWST

JWST Observing Programs

• JWST Cycle 5: Program GO 11448 (113.0 hrs), Co-Investigator — 2026
• JWST Cycle 4: Program GO 7793 (40.3 hrs), Co-Investigator — 2025
• JWST Cycle 4: Program GO 8441 (174.6 hrs), Co-Investigator — 2025
• JWST Cycle 3: Program GO 6084 (4.09 hrs), Co-Investigator — 2024

You can download my CV here!

If you want to contact me, email me at sherelyna12[at]gmail.com

Additionally, you can find a longer list of my works using my ORCID.

First-Author Publications

1. Diversity of Cold Worlds: A Near Complete Spectral Energy Distribution for 2MASS J04151954−0935066 Using JWST
   Alejandro Merchan, S., Faherty, J. K., Suárez, G., et al. (2025), The Astrophysical Journal, 989, 80.

Co-Author Publications

1. Silicate Precursor Silane Detected in Cold Low-Metallicity Brown Dwarf
   Faherty, J. K., Meisner, A. M., Burningham, B., et al. (2025), Nature, 645, 62.
2. The Diversity of Cold Worlds: A Blended-Light Binary Straddling the T/Y Transition in Brown Dwarfs
   Bardalez Gagliuffi, D. C., Faherty, J. K., Suárez, G., et al. (2025), The Astrophysical Journal, 984, 74.
3. Methane Emission from a Cool Brown Dwarf
   Faherty, J. K., Burningham, B., Gagné, J., et al. (2024), Nature, 628, 511.
4. High-Precision Atmospheric Constraints for a Cool T Dwarf from JWST Spectroscopy
   Hood, C. E., Mukherjee, S., Fortney, J. J., et al. (2024), arXiv e-prints, arXiv:2402.05345.
5. Patchy Forsterite Clouds in the Atmospheres of Two Exoplanet Analogs
   Vos, J. M., Burningham, B., Faherty, J. K., et al. (2023), The Astrophysical Journal, 944, 138.

Artist concept of brown dwarf W1935. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Leah Hustak (STScI)

For a complete and up-to-date list, see my ORCID.

Hola! My name is Sherelyn Alejandro Merchan, and I am an astrophysicist pursuing a PhD in Physics at the CUNY Graduate Center, with my research group based at the American Museum of Natural History. I am originally from Ecuador, but I have been living in NYC for a while and completed my undergraduate studies at Hunter College. I love thinking about the interdisciplinary link between planetary sciences and stellar astrophysics, in particular with cold brown dwarfs as that link. Currently, I am a member of the Brown Dwarfs in NYC (BDNYC) research group at the American Museum of Natural History, where I work with a team of amazing scientists. I'm also interested in atmospheric chemistry and science, bridging astrophysical and terrestrial frameworks.
When I am not coding, you can usually find me drinking iced coffee, reading, listening to music, or at a beach somewhere with my dog Mochita. If you want to know what I am listening to, check out the music player below! Ignore the ads that pop up, I am not paying for YouTube Premium.