Teddy Kareta, Ph.D.

The Kareta Research Group (fun group name pending) uses telescopic observations and computer models to understand the properties of the Solar System's small bodies, from asteroids close to the Sun to comets and Centaurs far into the Outer Solar System. This page includes project information for current and former students (for lack of a better word, "alumni") and some "where-are-they-now" information for the latter.

Current Students

These are my current students, primarily undergraduate astronomy majors at Villanova University.

• Kamilya Thaxter (2026-Present), Centaur Phase Curves, Villanova '29.
• Archer Yang (2026-Present), Centaur Surface and Ring Properties, Villanova '27.
• Logan Kowalski (2026-Present), Comet Dynamics, Villanova '26.
• Blanche Landry (2026-Present), Near-Earth Asteroid Dynamics, Villanova '29.

I also occasionally serve on Ph.D. or Masters thesis committees at other institutions and am currently doing so for Megan Firgard at the University of Central Florida's Planetary Department.

Former Students / "Alumni"

This includes both now-graduated Villanova Students as well as students I advised during my time as a postdoctoral researcher at Lowell Observatory.

• Hannah Bolhsen (2025-2026), Comet Compositions & Taxonomy Refinement with Principal Component Analysis. Cardelli Research Award Winner, Villanova '26, now a Ph.D. student at UVA.
• Megan Firgard (2022-2025), Spectral modeling of comet spectra at near-infrared wavelengths. NAU/Lowell REU '22, UOklahoma '23, now a Ph.D. student at UCF.
• Aeralyn Flynn (2024-2025), Comet Dynamics, Chaos, and Icy Moon Surface Properties. NAU/Lowell REU '24, Best Senior Thesis Award, College of Wooster '25. Now applying for graduate schools after a 'gap year'!
• Tessa Richardson (2022-2023), Centaur Phase Curves and Activity Searches with ATLAS. NAU Space Grant '22. Now a professional science instructor and tutor.

Students from further "into the past" (e.g., before I was a postdoctoral researcher and thus in a "leading" capacity in advising) are not listed, but are off in successul careers in politics, the space sciences, and environmental law among other pursuits.

I'm most reachable by email (theodore.kareta "at" villanova.edu, backup: tkareta "at" lowell.edu) -- feel free to reach out about comets, internship opportunities, collaborations, or anything related to the Southwest. I'm also on several social media sites @teddykareta, but BlueSky is the only place I'm even slightly active.