Characterising Exoplanets from Space: the Search for Cosmic Life

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• Dr. Brice-Olivier Demory (MIT & Battcock Centre, Cambridge)
• Tuesday 03 June 2014, 13:00-14:00
• MR14, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Adrian Barker.

In the past ten years, space-based facilities have propelled exoplanet science to a level far beyond our hopes. I will review recent results that have contributed to improve our knowledge of hot-Jupiter and super-Earth properties. I will discuss how the combination of datasets from instruments operating at different wavelengths allow us to better understand the circulation patterns in highly irradiated gas giant atmospheres. I will also describe current progress toward the characterisation of super-Earths, which are planets with masses and radii between those of Neptune and the Earth. Very little is known about super-Earths that have been discovered so far. Their interiors are largely unconstrained due to compositional degeneracies while no super-Earth’s atmosphere has been detected to date. I will present the results of a new program employing both Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes to better understand super-Earths properties, by combining observations obtained in different wavelength regimes. We find that close-in super-Earths have large geometric albedos in the Kepler bandpass, possibly due to clouds or reflective surfaces. We also find that some super-Earths initially thought to be volatile-rich exhibit circulation patterns matching a rocky composition, requiring new developments regarding our knowledge of super-Earth interiors. I will finally briefly describe the prospects towards the detection of biosignatures within the next decade.

This talk is part of the DAMTP Astro Lunch series.

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