Research Interests
Exoplanets, habitability, astrobiology, dynamics of planetary systems
Courses
PHY 162: Planets (Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023)
PHY 103: Physical, Earth, and Space Sciences (Spring 2022)
PHY 163: Stars and the Universe (Fall 2021)
Astro 5: The Sky and Planets (Fall 2019, Fall 2020)
Astro 297: Astronomy Communication (Fall 2019, Spring 2020)
Astro 1: Astronomical Universe (Summer 2018)
Current Advisees
Michael Polania (undergraduate), Leonard Feil (undergraduate), Phoebe Sandhaus (graduate)
Publications
First author:
A Five-Planet Resonant Chain: Reevaluation of the Kepler-80 System, MacDonald, M. G., Shakespeare, C. J., and Ragozzine, D., 2021, AJ
Forming Diverse Super-Earth Systems in Situ, MacDonald, M. G., Dawson, R. I., Morrison, S. J., Lee, E. J., and Khandelwal, A, 2020, ApJ, 891, 20
Examining the Radius Valley: a Machine Learning Approach, MacDonald, M. G. , 2019, MNRAS, 487, 4
Three Pathways for Observed Resonant Chains, MacDonald, M. G. and Dawson, R. I., 2018, AJ, 156, 5
A Dynamical Analysis of the Kepler-80 System of Five Transiting Planets, MacDonald, M. G., Ragozzine, D., Fabrycky, D. C., et al. 2016, AJ, 152, 105
Second author
A Statistical Analysis of the Nulling Pulsar Population, Sheikh, S. Z. and MacDonald, M. G., 2021, MNRAS, 502, 4
Confirming the Longest 3:2 Resonant Chain of K2-138, Feil, L., MacDonald, M. G., Quinn, T., and Rice, D., 2021, submitted
Challenges of Radial Velocity Characterization of Systems with Tightly-spaced Inner Planets, Ragozzine, D. A., MacDonald, M. G., Tognetti, L. A., et al., submitted
Third+ author
Chains of Planets in Mean Motion Resonances Arising from Oligarchic Growth, Morrison, S., Dawson, R. I, and MacDonald, M. G., 2020, ApJ, 904, 157
The Orbital Eccentricity of Small Planet Systems, Van Eylen, V., Albrecht, S., Huang, X., MacDonald, M. G., et al. 2019, AJ, 157, 61