Darien Perla

My name is Darien Perla. I was born in Panama and lived in Germany before coming to the US.

I am currently a graduate student at Texas Tech working on my Master's in Astrophysics while having a Bachelor's in Astrophysics from Texas Tech as well.

I am currently doing research with XMM-Newton to understand X-ray binaries in star forming regions of nearby galaxies.

I TA for two different courses, Observational Astronomy and Stellar Astronomy.

I am interested in working with the team who works towards the first dark energy detectors for major observatories to further understand the relationship of galactic evolution and dark matter.

While I have several hobbies, my area of expertise is with telescopes as I have been around them since the age of 13. Currently, one of my proud hobbies is deep space astrophotography with 7 years experience. You can check my gallery here.